Harvard Law Professor Calls for a “Presumptive Ban” on Homeschooling

Harvard Magazine recently published an article in which Harvard Law School Professor Elizabeth Bartholet calls for a “presumptive ban” on homeschooling. 

In the article, Bartholet states that homeschooling not only violates children’s right to a “meaningful education” and their right to be protected from potential child abuse, but may keep them from contributing positively to a democratic society. To remedy this situation, she suggests that parents should be required to have permission from the government before homeschooling their own children.  

Later in the article, Bartholet also claims that children who are placed in a homeschool environment can be more susceptible to isolation and child abuse. Bartholet states, “The issue is, do we think that parents should have 24/7, essentially authoritarian control over their children from ages zero to 18? I think that is dangerous.”  

Corey DeAngelis, an adjunct scholar at the Cato Institute, responded in an opinion article published in the New York Post. In the article, DeAngelis points out that, even according to the U.S. Supreme Court, a child is not a “mere creature of the state.” 

Read the entire Harvard Magazine article here: The Risks of Homeschooling 

You can read Professor Bartholet’s entire article in the Arizona Law Review here: Homeschooling: Parent Rights Absolutism vs. Child Rights to Education & Protection 

If you are a homeschooling parent, you may have friends or even extended family members who disagree with your family’s education choices. As homeschooling continues to grow in popularity, there will continue to be those who disapprove and some who might even think of it as dangerous, as Ms. Bartholet does.

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