criminalizing homeschooling

[cmotherofpirl]

U.N. making homeschooling illegal?
Threat seen from U.S. judges who bow to child-rights treaty

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Posted: May 27, 2006
1:00 a.m. Eastern




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© 2006 WorldNetDaily.com
A U.N. treaty conferring rights to children could make homeschooling illegal in the U.S. even though the Senate has not ratified it, a homeschooling association warns.

Michael Farris, chairman and general counsel of the Home School Legal Defense Association, or HSLDA, believes the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child could be binding on U.S. citizens because of activist judges, reports LifeSite News.


Farris said that according to a new interpretation of "customary international law," some U.S. judges have ruled the convention applies to American parents.

"In the 2002 case of Beharry v. Reno, one federal court said that even though the convention was never ratified, it still has an impact on American law," Farris explained, according to LifeSiteNews. "The fact that virtually every other nation in the world has adopted it has made it part of customary international law, and it means that it should be considered part of American jurisprudence."

The convention places severe limitations on a parent's right to direct and train their children, Farris contends.

The HSLDA produced a report in 1993 showing that under Article 13, parents could be subject to prosecution for any attempt to prevent their children from interacting with material they deem unacceptable.

Under Article 14, children are guaranteed "freedom of thought, conscience and religion," which suggests they have a legal right to object to all religious training. Further, under Article 15, the child has a right to "freedom of association."

"If this measure were to be taken seriously, parents could be prevented from forbidding their child to associate with people deemed to be objectionable companions," the HSLDA report explained.

Farris pointed out that in 1995 the United Kingdom was deemed out of compliance with the convention "because it allowed parents to remove their children from public school sex-education classes without consulting the child."

Farris argues, according to LifeSiteNews, that "by the same reasoning, parents would be denied the ability to homeschool their children unless the government first talked with their children and the government decided what was best. This committee would even have the right to determine what religious teaching, if any, served the child's best interest."

Offering solutions, Farris suggests Congress use its power to define customary law and modify the jurisdiction of federal courts.

"Congress needs to address this issue of judicial tyranny by enacting legislation that limits the definition of customary international law to include only provisions of treaties that Congress has ratified," he said.

Farris also suggested Congress could pass a constitutional amendment stating explicitly that no provision of any international agreement can supersede the constitutional rights of an American citizen.

He pointed out two such amendments have been proposed in Congress.

Finally, he says specific threats to parental rights can be solved by "putting a clear parents' rights amendment into the black and white text of the United States Constitution."

[Akalyte]

I so want to wage a war on the UN and the secular humanists.

[Theunknown101]

Discrimination. That word always shuts them up. I'm for that last option mentioned, as well.

[heyyoimjohnny]

^^^ that was me, accidentally posting under my little brother's screenname...

[MissScripture]

How are parents supposed to raise their children if they can't tell them not to do something?

[cmotherofpirl]

that is the whole point, governments have decided they are far more capable of raising politically correct workers bees, uh children than parents.

Did you read [i]Brave New World[/i]?

[MissScripture]

No...
Ok, second question, how can governments then hold parents responsible if they have no rights to their children?

[homeschoolmom]

[quote name='cmotherofpirl' post='991517' date='May 27 2006, 02:42 PM']Did you read [i]Brave New World[/i]?
[/quote]

That's exactly what I thought as I was reading this.

[quote]Ok, second question, how can governments then hold parents responsible if they have no rights to their children?[/quote]
Exactly. How are parents supposed to raise moral, productive citizens if they can't tell them to stop doing wrong and start doing right?


PS I hate the UN. I love HSLDA.

btw, the US has by far the most freedom in the world with regard to homeschooling. In Europe people have gone to jail over the issue.

[Tufsoles]

I agree that the U.S. and the rest of the world should be aloud the right to have a choice between Homeschool and other education opurtunities( private or public). It si the only way to get children to be a good and god fearing person these days and not have such things that not everyone agrees with not tought at home.

[1337 k4th0l1x0r]

I'm glad that the UN has finally decided to stop its usual agenda of doing nothing about minor things like brutal dictators and is concentrating on real problems like homeschooling and children not having sex.

[homeschoolmom]

[quote name='1337 k4th0l1x0r' post='991545' date='May 27 2006, 04:20 PM']
I'm glad that the UN has finally decided to stop its usual agenda of doing nothing about minor things like brutal dictators and is concentrating on real problems like homeschooling and children not having sex.
[/quote]
Glad to see them going after the real ills of the world.

[MissScripture]

And this is why we must pray and support the Holy See mission to the UN! I spent last week learning about the work they are doing there. It is really quite amazing. Good Catholics (headed by Archbisop Migliore) fighting for us.

[Socrates]

I utterly despise the U.N.
Get US out of the UN!

I can tell you for a fact that if homeschooling was outlawed around here (especially if done for reasons of enforcing U.N. dictates), there'd be an armed uprising!

[brandelynmarie]

What is wrong with these people?!?!?Never mind...I probably don't want to know...

[MissScripture]

[quote name='Socrates' post='991619' date='May 27 2006, 07:04 PM']
I utterly despise the U.N.
Get US out of the UN!

[/quote]
I would agree with you, except for the fact that it is a world influence and if the US were to leave the U.N., countries against the US would fill the "space" formerly filled by the US and twist it to look like world opinion is different than it is. And we'd have the whole world hating us, instead of just half...