Home Schooling Option Over Traditional Public Schools Gaining Acceptance in U.S. — Not So in Other Countries

Though many parents have opted to home school their children for religious reasons over the years, the alternative to traditional public schools gained momentum after the Columbine High School shootings in Colorado. Each year, the number of children being removed from public schools and schooled at home increases. Public schools across the nation have finally recognized that the trend is here to stay. Many recognize that the alternative can be supplemented through the public schools, giving students a more rounded education. Thus, many school districts now offer several home schooling alternatives. This is not the case in some other countries.

During Adolf Hitler’s reign in Germany, he created the Ministry of Education, one of his first moves to control the minds of the youth, Germany’s future in his estimation. The ministry controlled all public schools and school-related issues. One of their first actions was to decree that all children must attend public schools, essentially banning all home schooling and private schools. That ban still exists today.

Some German families continue to home school their children for religious reasons, since they feel that German public schools offer an anti-Christian viewpoint. Recently, the Ministry began enforcing the ban on public schools alternatives.

First, Melissa Busekros fell behind in her math and Latin classes. Her parents began tutoring her at home to help her catch up. When the public schools found out, they expelled her. They then took action to remove her from her home, arriving with 15 police officers and a court order that stated she was to be removed with force, if necessary.

The 15 year old was first taken to a psychiatric hospital in Nuremberg to remedy her "public schools phobia". Then, she was placed in a foster home. The appellate court upheld the removal order, which her parents sought to have overturned. Unfortunately for Hubert and Gudrun Busekros, the appellate judge ordered them to undergo state-sponsored psychiatric testing. Advocates for the family fear the tests will be used to remove the parents’ other five children from the home.

Now, a second German family is under attack for home schooling. A Saxony court has given Youth Welfare the right to remove five children from the Brause home at their convenience with or without notice to the family. Though the Youth Welfare office has not taken action to date, Bert and Kathrin Brause fear it may happen at any time.

According to a CBN report, the parents can regain custody only by placing them in the public schools. They also must pay an estimated $4,000 in court costs. The judge presiding over the case stated that the children were obviously well educated; however, the parents had failed to provide their children with the opportunity to develop independent personalities. The latter was based on one daughter’s stated opinion that matched the opinion expressed by her father; thus, the judge concluded that she was incapable of independent thinking, which he deemed the public schools more capable of providing.

The Saxony ruling has increased fear throughout Germany among families that home school. Many families have fled to other countries and are in hiding, fearing they will be extradited back to Germany for prosecution.

Though even the United Nations has gotten involved, government officials say they have a legitimate interest in countering the rise of parallel societies that are based on religion or motivated by different world views. And here, I thought we defeated Adolf Hitler and his narrow views during World War II.