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CBS report on home schooling
#1 · October 14, 2003, 8:30 am
Posted by: homenews <homenews@...>
Dear Hope Chest readers,
Here are more links for last night's CBS news report on "the dark side of home schooling." There will be more tonight, and I think it may be even worse. A list of corporate sponsors is at the end.
Blessings,
Virginia Knowles
View it on-line
Here is the text from last night:
A Dark Side To Home Schooling
SMITHFIELD, N.C., Oct. 13, 2003
SMITHFIELD, N.C., Oct. 13, 2003
"There was rotting food, animal feces on the floor. I can't imagine anyone
living in a residence like this."
Tom Lock,
Johnston County district attorney
living in a residence like this."
Tom Lock,
Johnston County district attorney
(CBS) The school bus never stopped at the secluded trailer on Hickory
Crossroads in rural North Carolina because for five years Nissa and Kent
Warren home schooled their children.
Crossroads in rural North Carolina because for five years Nissa and Kent
Warren home schooled their children.
Then, as CBS News Correspondent Vince Gonzales reports, county workers got
an anonymous tip: better check on those kids.
"This is one of those cases that will always haunt me," says Tom Lock, the
Johnston County district attorney.
For weeks, the parents tried to keep social workers out until the day
detectives and Lock were called in.
"I was stunned at the squalor that I saw," says Lock. "There was rotting
food, animal feces on the floor. I can't imagine anyone living in a
residence like this."
A faded sign on the wall reads: "So this isn't home sweet home: adjust."
In the bedroom, 14-year-old Brandon had committed suicide with a rifle after
killing his brother Kyle and sister Marnie. Their mother discovered the
bodies.
"She stopped me in the road (and) said my children are dead," says a
neighbor.
Nissa Warren told a detective she'd "rather God had them than Child
Protective Services."
It turned out the Warrens had home schooled before, in Arizona, where they
were convicted of child abuse. An investigator there wrote: "The children
are tortured physically and emotionally." That's information North Carolina
school officials are not required to collect.
an anonymous tip: better check on those kids.
"This is one of those cases that will always haunt me," says Tom Lock, the
Johnston County district attorney.
For weeks, the parents tried to keep social workers out until the day
detectives and Lock were called in.
"I was stunned at the squalor that I saw," says Lock. "There was rotting
food, animal feces on the floor. I can't imagine anyone living in a
residence like this."
A faded sign on the wall reads: "So this isn't home sweet home: adjust."
In the bedroom, 14-year-old Brandon had committed suicide with a rifle after
killing his brother Kyle and sister Marnie. Their mother discovered the
bodies.
"She stopped me in the road (and) said my children are dead," says a
neighbor.
Nissa Warren told a detective she'd "rather God had them than Child
Protective Services."
It turned out the Warrens had home schooled before, in Arizona, where they
were convicted of child abuse. An investigator there wrote: "The children
are tortured physically and emotionally." That's information North Carolina
school officials are not required to collect.
Since it became legal in North Carolina in 1985, the number of home school
students has jumped from just a few hundred to more than 50,000. But there's
been no change in the number of state employees overseeing the program -
just three for the entire state.
students has jumped from just a few hundred to more than 50,000. But there's
been no change in the number of state employees overseeing the program -
just three for the entire state.
"I think there's so little supervision that they really are not protecting
those kids," Marcia Herman-Giddens, of the North Carolina Child Advocacy
Institute. Herman-Giddens is on the state task force that reviewed the
Warren case. The conclusion: home school laws "allow persons who maltreat
children to maintain social isolation in order for the abuse and neglect to
remain undetected." "They deliberately keep them out of the public eye
because the children do have injuries that are visible, and they don't want
them to be seen," she says.
those kids," Marcia Herman-Giddens, of the North Carolina Child Advocacy
Institute. Herman-Giddens is on the state task force that reviewed the
Warren case. The conclusion: home school laws "allow persons who maltreat
children to maintain social isolation in order for the abuse and neglect to
remain undetected." "They deliberately keep them out of the public eye
because the children do have injuries that are visible, and they don't want
them to be seen," she says.
But Hal Young, an advocate for home school parents, says most parents are
loving and doing a very good job. He doesn't see a connection "based on one
very tragic unfortunate case." "I don't see a connection that would say
this is where the government needs to step in, this is where the government
needs to come to your home, come into your life," says Young.
loving and doing a very good job. He doesn't see a connection "based on one
very tragic unfortunate case." "I don't see a connection that would say
this is where the government needs to step in, this is where the government
needs to come to your home, come into your life," says Young.
The Warrens were acquitted of child abuse charges but spent 45 days in jail
for failing to secure a firearm. Through their attorney they declined
requests for an interview. "All they ever asked was that they be able to
raise their children in the manner in which they felt was appropriate,"
their attorney Jonathan Breeden said.
for failing to secure a firearm. Through their attorney they declined
requests for an interview. "All they ever asked was that they be able to
raise their children in the manner in which they felt was appropriate,"
their attorney Jonathan Breeden said.
----------------------------------------------------------------------------
In part 2 of Vince Gonzales' report: how children nationwide have been put
in danger, even killed, while home schooling.
in danger, even killed, while home schooling.
~~~~
The following companies sponsored this CBS evening news report:
WalMart, Honda, Cingular, Nokia, Arby's, Crest toothpaste, Mercury (Ford),
Smith Barney, Cambell's soup, Post cereals, Schering Plough (Claritin),
Capital One, GM (Mr. Goodwrench), Polygrip, Hundai America, Vick's Vaporub,
Ortho Biotech (Johnson & Johnson), Pfizer (Detrol LA)