A professor at Harvard University is calling for a “presumptive ban” on homeschooling because the practice infringes on the rights of children.
Elizabeth Bartholet, a Wasserstein public interest professor of law and faculty director of the Law School’s Child Advocacy Program, told Harvard Magazine:
“We have an essentially unregulated regime in the area of homeschooling. If you look at the legal regime governing homeschooling, there are very few requirements that parents do anything.”
Bartholet said the absence of oversight for people parenting their children leads to an increased risk of students not getting a proper education. She said:
“That means, effectively, that people can homeschool who’ve never gone to school themselves, who don’t read or write themselves.”
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The magazine reported that some states do not require parents to register their children with the state as “homeschooled” and can simply keep their children home.
The article comes as millions of children across the nation have had in-person classes canceled as a result of the coronavirus pandemic. Nearly every state in the country has implemented some kind of stay-at-home order, which means parents are left to help their children with online lessons with teachers or teach their children themselves.
Bartholet argues that because of this, children are missing out on participation in society. She added:
“From the beginning of compulsory education in this country, we have thought of the government as having some right to educate children so that they become active, productive participants in the larger society. But it’s also important that children grow up exposed to community values, social values, democratic values, ideas about nondiscrimination and tolerance of other people’s viewpoints.”
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Bartholet also called it “dangerous” to empower parents to have total control of their children and education. She said:
“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’s dangerous. I think it’s always dangerous to put powerful people in charge of the powerless, and to give the powerful ones total authority.”
After being slated to receive millions from the federal stimulus fund set up during the coronavirus pandemic, Harvard University announced Wednesday that it will no longer “seek or accept” aid from the CARES Act Higher Education Emergency Relief Fund.
