{"id":14599,"date":"2013-04-17T05:49:23","date_gmt":"2013-04-17T09:49:23","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/lovejoyfeminism\/?p=14599"},"modified":"2013-05-06T14:11:34","modified_gmt":"2013-05-06T18:11:34","slug":"hslda-child-abuse-and-educational-neglect-an-introduction","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/lovejoyfeminism\/2013\/04\/hslda-child-abuse-and-educational-neglect-an-introduction.html","title":{"rendered":"HSLDA and Child Abuse: An Introduction"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<\/head>

\"\"<\/a>As a homeschooled child, Michael Farris, the founder of the Home School Legal Defense Association (HSLDA), was my hero. It was HSLDA, I believed, that had given my parents the right to homeschool, and that continued to protect our rights against government encroachment. This made what I have learned about the organization upon adulthood that much harder to absorb and fully comprehend. Put simply, HSLDA is doing everything it can to keep people from reporting child abuse and to inhibit child abuse investigations, has opposed laws against child abuse, and is working to undo\u00a0compulsory\u00a0education laws altogether, effectively decriminalizing educational neglect.<\/p>\n

HSLDA was in 1983,\u00a0ostensibly\u00a0to protect families\u2019 right to homeschool. In practice, however many of its cases today deal not with homeschooling but with child abuse allegations. If you read through HSLDA\u2019s Court Report, you will find story<\/a> after<\/a> story<\/a> of HSLDA defending homeschooling parents against child abuse allegations. Homeschooling is today legal in every U.S. state, and HSLDA has gone far, far beyond its original mandate. In fact, it appears that HSLDA is today more preoccupied with sheltering child abuse than it is with protecting the legality of homeschooling.<\/p>\n

Let me offer\u00a0the Stumbo case<\/a>\u00a0as an example. In September of 1999, a\u00a0neighbor saw the Stumbo\u2019s two-year-old naked and unattended in the family\u2019s driveway and registered an anonymous tip with Child Protective Services. After receiving the tip, a CPS worker appeared on the Stumbo\u2019s porch and asked to interview the children to ensure that there was no abuse taking place. On HSLDA\u2019s advice, the Stumbos refused to grant the CPS worker any access whatsoever to their children. The CPS worker then went to a judge and got a court order to interview the children. In spite of the fact that the case had nothing to do with homeschooling, HSLDA appealed the order and eventually won; the court found that there was too little evidence of abuse to justify a court order. HSLDA had hoped the court would find that interviewing a family\u2019s children would count as seizure under the fourth amendment, but was\u00a0disappointed\u00a0as the case was decided more narrowly.<\/p>\n

I remember reading about the Stumbo case in Home School Court Report when I was kid. It was played up as this grand scary thing, as though the kids were about to be removed from their parents for no reason whatsoever. At the time I wasn\u2019t aware of the legal background surrounding the case\u2014including the reality that there was never an attempt to remove the children from their parents and that the case primarily involved not homeschooling but rather the proper procedures for child abuse investigations. Whether or not the CPS took the proper actions in the Stumbo case isn\u2019t the issue. The issue is that HSLDA has moved beyond defending the legality of homeschooling and into the world litigating against child abuse investigations\u2014sometimes with rather disastrous implications for abused children.<\/p>\n

And HSLDA isn\u2019t shy about this shift, either. For example, this statement was included in a paper from the 2000s on how to deal with CPS investigations<\/a>:<\/p>\n

HSLDA is beginning to work with states to reform the child welfare laws to guarantee more freedom for parents and better protection for their parental rights. HSLDA will be sending out Alerts to its members in various states where such legislation is drafted and submitted as a bill.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

\u201cChild welfare laws\u201d means laws dealing with child abuse and Child Protective Services investigations. \u201cBetter protection for \u2026 parental rights\u201d means protection against accusations of child abuse and CPS investigations. This has nothing to do with homeschooling and everything to do with protecting parents\u2019 absolute control over their children, and absolute freedom from state interference, no matter what that means for the well-being of the children themselves.<\/p>\n

From what I have learned in the time since my teenage years spent pouring over each month\u2019s Home School Court Report, it appears that there are four primary ways that HSLDA is complicit in aiding and abetting child abuse and educational neglect: (1) They work to minimize the reporting of child abuse<\/a>; (2) They seek to stall the investigation of child abuse<\/a>; (3) They defend the legality of excessive corporal punishment<\/a>; and (4) They oppose any homeschooling regulation <\/a>whatsoever<\/a>,<\/em> even when it is merely intended to ensure that learning is actually taking place. This post introduces a series addressing these issues (click the links embedded in this paragraph to see each post) and revealing HSLDA\u2019s troubling relationship with child abuse and educational neglect.<\/p>\n<\/body><\/html>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

As a homeschooled child, HSLDA was a hero to me. It was HSLDA, I believed, that had given my parents the right to homeschool, and that continued to protect our rights against government encroachment. This made what I have learned about the organization upon adulthood—i.e. HSLDA’s complicity in protecting child abusers—that much harder to absorb and fully comprehend. This post introduces a series on the subject. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":845,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[48],"tags":[198],"class_list":["post-14599","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-homeschool","tag-hslda"],"yoast_head":"\nHSLDA and Child Abuse: An Introduction<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"As a homeschooled child, HSLDA was a hero to me. It was HSLDA, I believed, that had given my parents the right to homeschool, and that continued to protect our rights against government encroachment. This made what I have learned about the organization upon adulthood---i.e. HSLDA's complicity in protecting child abusers---that much harder to absorb and fully comprehend. This post introduces a series on the subject.\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/lovejoyfeminism\/2013\/04\/hslda-child-abuse-and-educational-neglect-an-introduction.html\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"HSLDA and Child Abuse: An Introduction\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"As a homeschooled child, HSLDA was a hero to me. It was HSLDA, I believed, that had given my parents the right to homeschool, and that continued to protect our rights against government encroachment. This made what I have learned about the organization upon adulthood---i.e. HSLDA's complicity in protecting child abusers---that much harder to absorb and fully comprehend. This post introduces a series on the subject.\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/lovejoyfeminism\/2013\/04\/hslda-child-abuse-and-educational-neglect-an-introduction.html\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Love, Joy, Feminism\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2013-04-17T09:49:23+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2013-05-06T18:11:34+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"http:\/\/wp.patheos.com.s3.amazonaws.com\/blogs\/lovejoyfeminism\/files\/2013\/04\/Farris-214x300.jpg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Libby Anne\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Libby Anne\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"4 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/lovejoyfeminism\/2013\/04\/hslda-child-abuse-and-educational-neglect-an-introduction.html\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/lovejoyfeminism\/2013\/04\/hslda-child-abuse-and-educational-neglect-an-introduction.html\",\"name\":\"HSLDA and Child Abuse: An Introduction\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/lovejoyfeminism\/#website\"},\"datePublished\":\"2013-04-17T09:49:23+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2013-05-06T18:11:34+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/lovejoyfeminism\/#\/schema\/person\/fae465c1bbb5cbdf26c9e73bfd1b73d2\"},\"description\":\"As a homeschooled child, HSLDA was a hero to me. It was HSLDA, I believed, that had given my parents the right to homeschool, and that continued to protect our rights against government encroachment. This made what I have learned about the organization upon adulthood---i.e. HSLDA's complicity in protecting child abusers---that much harder to absorb and fully comprehend. This post introduces a series on the subject.\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/lovejoyfeminism\/2013\/04\/hslda-child-abuse-and-educational-neglect-an-introduction.html#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/lovejoyfeminism\/2013\/04\/hslda-child-abuse-and-educational-neglect-an-introduction.html\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/lovejoyfeminism\/2013\/04\/hslda-child-abuse-and-educational-neglect-an-introduction.html#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/lovejoyfeminism\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"HSLDA and Child Abuse: An Introduction\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/lovejoyfeminism\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/lovejoyfeminism\/\",\"name\":\"Love, Joy, Feminism\",\"description\":\"\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/lovejoyfeminism\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":\"required name=search_term_string\"}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/lovejoyfeminism\/#\/schema\/person\/fae465c1bbb5cbdf26c9e73bfd1b73d2\",\"name\":\"Libby Anne\",\"description\":\"Libby Anne grew up in a large evangelical homeschool family highly involved in the Christian Right. College turned her world upside down, and she is today an atheist, a feminist, and a progressive. She blogs about leaving religion, her experience with the Christian Patriarchy and Quiverfull movements, the detrimental effects of the \\\"purity culture,\\\" the contradictions of conservative politics, and the importance of feminism.\",\"sameAs\":[\"http:\/\/patheos.com\/blogs\/lovejoyfeminism\"],\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/lovejoyfeminism\/author\/libby\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"HSLDA and Child Abuse: An Introduction","description":"As a homeschooled child, HSLDA was a hero to me. It was HSLDA, I believed, that had given my parents the right to homeschool, and that continued to protect our rights against government encroachment. This made what I have learned about the organization upon adulthood---i.e. HSLDA's complicity in protecting child abusers---that much harder to absorb and fully comprehend. This post introduces a series on the subject.","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/lovejoyfeminism\/2013\/04\/hslda-child-abuse-and-educational-neglect-an-introduction.html","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"HSLDA and Child Abuse: An Introduction","og_description":"As a homeschooled child, HSLDA was a hero to me. It was HSLDA, I believed, that had given my parents the right to homeschool, and that continued to protect our rights against government encroachment. This made what I have learned about the organization upon adulthood---i.e. HSLDA's complicity in protecting child abusers---that much harder to absorb and fully comprehend. This post introduces a series on the subject.","og_url":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/lovejoyfeminism\/2013\/04\/hslda-child-abuse-and-educational-neglect-an-introduction.html","og_site_name":"Love, Joy, Feminism","article_published_time":"2013-04-17T09:49:23+00:00","article_modified_time":"2013-05-06T18:11:34+00:00","og_image":[{"url":"http:\/\/wp.patheos.com.s3.amazonaws.com\/blogs\/lovejoyfeminism\/files\/2013\/04\/Farris-214x300.jpg"}],"author":"Libby Anne","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"Libby Anne","Est. reading time":"4 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/lovejoyfeminism\/2013\/04\/hslda-child-abuse-and-educational-neglect-an-introduction.html","url":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/lovejoyfeminism\/2013\/04\/hslda-child-abuse-and-educational-neglect-an-introduction.html","name":"HSLDA and Child Abuse: An Introduction","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/lovejoyfeminism\/#website"},"datePublished":"2013-04-17T09:49:23+00:00","dateModified":"2013-05-06T18:11:34+00:00","author":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/lovejoyfeminism\/#\/schema\/person\/fae465c1bbb5cbdf26c9e73bfd1b73d2"},"description":"As a homeschooled child, HSLDA was a hero to me. It was HSLDA, I believed, that had given my parents the right to homeschool, and that continued to protect our rights against government encroachment. This made what I have learned about the organization upon adulthood---i.e. HSLDA's complicity in protecting child abusers---that much harder to absorb and fully comprehend. This post introduces a series on the subject.","breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/lovejoyfeminism\/2013\/04\/hslda-child-abuse-and-educational-neglect-an-introduction.html#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/lovejoyfeminism\/2013\/04\/hslda-child-abuse-and-educational-neglect-an-introduction.html"]}]},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/lovejoyfeminism\/2013\/04\/hslda-child-abuse-and-educational-neglect-an-introduction.html#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/lovejoyfeminism"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"HSLDA and Child Abuse: An Introduction"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/lovejoyfeminism\/#website","url":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/lovejoyfeminism\/","name":"Love, Joy, Feminism","description":"","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/lovejoyfeminism\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":"required name=search_term_string"}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/lovejoyfeminism\/#\/schema\/person\/fae465c1bbb5cbdf26c9e73bfd1b73d2","name":"Libby Anne","description":"Libby Anne grew up in a large evangelical homeschool family highly involved in the Christian Right. College turned her world upside down, and she is today an atheist, a feminist, and a progressive. She blogs about leaving religion, her experience with the Christian Patriarchy and Quiverfull movements, the detrimental effects of the \"purity culture,\" the contradictions of conservative politics, and the importance of feminism.","sameAs":["http:\/\/patheos.com\/blogs\/lovejoyfeminism"],"url":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/lovejoyfeminism\/author\/libby"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/lovejoyfeminism\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/14599","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/lovejoyfeminism\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/lovejoyfeminism\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/lovejoyfeminism\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/845"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/lovejoyfeminism\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=14599"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/lovejoyfeminism\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/14599\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/lovejoyfeminism\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=14599"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/lovejoyfeminism\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=14599"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/lovejoyfeminism\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=14599"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}