Homeschooled Girl Ordered to Attend Public School Over Her 'Rigid' Faith
What happens when a child believes in the God of her parents? Why, send them to public schools:
Amanda Kurowski is a 10-year-old homeschooled girl who performs well academically and is socially well-adjusted. But her strong Christian beliefs were reason enough for a New Hampshire court to order her out of homeschooling and into a public school.
Why you ask?
In the process of renegotiating the terms of a parenting plan for the girl, the Guardian ad Litem – who acts as a fact finder for the court – reported that Amanda was found to “lack some youthful characteristics,” partly because “she appeared to reflect her mother’s rigidity on questions of faith.”
The GAL concluded that Amanda “would be best served by exposure to different points of view at a time in her life when she must begin to critically evaluate multiple systems of belief and behavior and cooperation in order to select, as a young adult, which of those systems will best suit her own needs.”
Although there is no dispute that Amanda is excelling academically and is generally interactive with her peers, her religious beliefs were seen as being held a bit too sincerely, Alliance Defense Fund allied attorney John Anthony Simmons explained to The Christian Post. (Read the rest…)
In: Christian Education · Tagged with: Alliance Defense Fund, faith, homeschool, new hampshire, religion
on August 30, 2009 at 9:19 pm
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What an atrocity. The state feels justified in telling parents they’re not allowed to raise their child according to their own worldview? That’s frightening.
on August 30, 2009 at 10:26 pm
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Well the second would be that of the middle ages, who did have a Christian world view. Not so bad in reality. Or like the Israel of the OT. In my upbringing in Ireland…50 & 60′s, the Muslims we just not around, at least my neck of the woods. Nor America either in those days. Sorry off subject here. My point is that both the UK and America used to have a Judeo-Christian world view. That is long gone now!
Fr. R.
on August 30, 2009 at 10:33 pm
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Indeed sad. I especially have problems with the government stepping into the place of parents.
on August 31, 2009 at 5:31 am
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Hold up there! The full story you link to is clear that this is effectively the result of an argument between the child’s divorced parents about her upbringing. So your very first sentence is wrong, since her father is objecting to what he thinks (rightly or wrongly) is her indoctrination by her mother.
on August 31, 2009 at 8:02 am
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This is absurd. Mentioned in every article leaked to the public are statements such as: “parents have a fundamental right to make educational choices for their children.” But they only cover what the “mother” wants. In another statement: “The court is essentially saying..”, is the mother’s attorney’s self serving way to change what the Court actually stated.
What about the “father”? He has some say (50%) in this.
The Court never states that they want the child to drop her religious beliefs or teachings of her mother. The Court & the father feel the child to be better served by being opened up to other children and other beliefs so she can be more rounded & not stuck in a small box.
Before all of you jump on the bandwagon, step back and attempt to view the entire picture and not just what is being hand fed to you.
on August 31, 2009 at 8:58 am
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I can see your point, Doug, but for x number of years, the father had no problem with this ‘indoctrination’, and indeed, it seems that the usual arguments against homeschooling have been dismissed as we see the child well-adjusted.
The father can object – but in the end, it was the court’s opinion that the child was too religious. Is this in the court’s power?
Had the objection been solely based on the idea that the father was denied adequate input into the child’s education, then I would say that the court had the power to decide that.
on August 31, 2009 at 9:30 am
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I agree with you Doug. We do not see the word for word transcript of what was said and not said in the Court room leading to the decision. In fact, I read in 1 of the articles that the father always wished for the child to attend public school, which was brought up in Mediation, failed, and therefore how it led to Court for a decition. It’s due to the bits and pieces we are shown, re-worded by the mother’s attorney that we get only 1/2 the true story.
on August 31, 2009 at 9:32 am
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Alley, the issue is not the father’s decision making capability – but the court’s statements on the religious nature of the child’s beliefs. Further, it is apparent that she did attend public school for at least two classes. Before you knock the bandwagon, let’s see what else develops.
on August 31, 2009 at 9:40 am
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Follow up post here:
http://thechurchofjesuschrist.us/2009/08/more-on-the-new-hampshire-homeschooling-case/
on August 31, 2009 at 9:45 am
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[...] First, see here: Homeschooled Girl Ordered to Attend Public School Over Her ‘Rigid’ Faith | The Church o…. [...]
on August 30, 2009 at 9:21 pm
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Indeed, Daniel. Can you imagine the reverse – a judge telling a child to be homeschooled because he or she doesn’t have a sincerely held worldview?
on August 30, 2009 at 10:38 pm
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The Government is Restricted at the Individual – or the Family, as the case may need. If the child was being abused, then yes, step in. Yet, the court ruled, contrary to acknowledged evidence that the child was progressing more than she should have, that the child was being harmed by essentially being a Christian.
This is not the Government’s responsibility, and I hope that pressure is applied and a higher court overturns this ridiculous case. And yes, we do homeschool.
on August 31, 2009 at 9:46 am
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Ally, Doug, on the new article, I posted several of the court orders. I believe that it might help with the story a bit