As a homeschool mom of three young kids, social media is a huge form of support and information. I love being able to pop into a Facebook group dedicated to homeschooling if I have questions about curriculum or just need some encouragement. Having that support at my fingertips is very helpful (most of the time). As with any social media platform there are pros and cons. I choose to focus on truth and the positives when using social media as a network, a tool, or platform. Occasionally I come across information that is bothersome to me as a homeschooler, and this past week was one of those times.
I had seen this article circulating in a few homeschool groups with photos of two children in the headline image. Truthfully, I did not click the article the first or even second time I saw it. But then, an old high school acquaintance (who doesn’t even have children) also shared the article with one word. TYPICAL. And I was done ignoring it.
What I discovered….
the unthinkable.
In December of last year, neighbors had grown concerned that they hadn’t seen a 14 year old girl for a few weeks and essentially reported to local law enforcement to request they come out to investigate her well being. Turns out, the girl was found, buried in the family’s backyard, along with her brother (who would have been 16 this year and hadn’t actually been seen for TWO YEARS). These children, obviously fell victim to some sort of abuse and ultimately death. In connection to the crime, their father, stepmother, and step grandmother have all been arrested to my current knowledge. It is obviously an awful, horrendous crime.
These children were homeschooled, yes. The fact that they were homeschooled is literally the third word in the headline announcing their death. They also attended public school for most of their education, but for some reason, that didn’t make the headline.
Now, state Senators and Representatives (Rep. Jon Burns-R, Rep. Bill Hitchins-R, and state Sen. Jack Hill-R) in the Savannah area, along with the local sheriff, are all pushing for more legislation and laws and interference on all homeschool families in the state of Georgia.
Obviously, someone killed these children. I’m not here to decide who did that. I’m very sorry these children fell victim and ultimately died. It’s an awful tragedy.
So what did I do after reading the article? I wanted to discuss this with my husband. Homeschool laws affect us as a family. We homeschool. We plan to homeschool (at this point) well into the kids education, if not all the way through high school graduation. We decided to record an episode of The Rebellion together to go through the article and share our thoughts. Assigning an individual to come into the homes of homeschoolers to conduct evaluations (medical and academic) is not lawful. You can hear more on our opinion on Episode 64 of the Rebellion.
I’d love for you to take a listen.
Share it with your homeschooling community.
Share it with your public and private school friends.
Contact your state Senators and Representatives to discuss your feelings on the matter.
Attend Homeschool Day at the Capitol on Wednesday, March 6th organized by the Georgia Home Educators Association.
Becoming a member of GHEA or HSLDA
Know the Homeschool Laws for your state. (Because I’m in Georgia, I’ll link our laws here.)
Start your own Facebook group for homeschooling families in your area! Connect and encourage each other.
If you like what you hear, I encourage you to check out their catalog of episodes currently available. Subscribe to the podcast on your favorite platform and leave them a 5 star rating and written review (they LOVE those and read them on air). Follow along with the Rebellion on all of their social media channels and of course, on your favorite podcast platform. Find all the links below!
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