UNCRC Article 13: Our Right to Homeschool?

Listening to Virginia’s governor today, I grew increasingly frustrated with some of his answers to the constituents of our state. When asked about relaxing the laws on charter schools in our state to increase competition and thus create better schools all around, he answered that he’d rather see the public schools meet all of our needs. I shouldn’t be surprised by such an answer from a liberal leader, but it does remind me of the peril that we face should the UNCRC be ratified by a Democratic Senate. Rather than allow the citizens to have the freedom to choose their children’s method of schooling, many politicians think it is best to have the government do all of the educating—that way they can make sure it is done by their standards, which may or may not meet the parents’ standards. The UNCRC takes a similar stance on the curriculum taught to a child, making the government the authority over disagreements between the parent and the child about the course of study that a child pursues. Today we’re looking at Article 13:

The child shall have the right to freedom of expression; this right shall include freedom to seek, receive and impart information and ideas of all kinds, regardless of frontiers, either orally, in writing or in print, in the form of art, or through any other media of the child's choice.

The freedom to seek, receive and impart information and ideas of all kinds is a very broad statement. As we’ve noted, many of the statements in the treaty are broad. There is dangerous because by leaving the statement open for interpretation, the treaty gives a small group of people within the government the ability to take as much control as it wants to take. What does this mean for homeschooling?

Under this treaty, if your child were to decide that she does not want to study the curriculum you have selected for her it becomes the government’s duty to step in and ensure the child’s right to information. How long before the government requires that your child not only have the right to the freedom of expression, but it also begins to make judgments that your curriculum doesn’t do enough to give your child freedom of expression?. How long before the government requires that you send your child to a government school so they can ensure that your child is able to get information and ideas of all kinds—at least as far as what the government deems important?

Freedom requires that parents have the right to run their household as they see fit (barring, of course, abusive, unfit parents). The homeschooling parent takes this freedom to heart. Right now we have the freedom to teach our children as we see fit, and our children flourish because of it. What happens when someone, like the governor of Virginia, who believes that the only form of school should be public school, has a treaty like this to back up a ban on homeschooling? What happens when private schools are shut down because the government decides that a child was denied his “freedom of expression” in those schools?

Many on the socialist, far left-hand side of the aisle would love to ensure that all children go to public school. This is always portrayed as being done in order to make sure that the child is getting the best education they can get. The reality is that they want to be able to socialize the masses to agree with their way of thinking. This way we end debates and political disagreements. After all, if we all believe the same way, we won’t have as many wars and life won’t be as unpleasant. This is the way they see it. What they don’t realize is that humans are not solely creatures of nurture. We are born as individuals, with our own personalities and everything in our nature goes against being controlled by someone else. It would not be the end of wars; it would be the beginning of the end of this nation if our freedoms that we enjoy now are taken away. We will never stop debate by socializing our children in public school. We will only create a boiling discontent that will eventually bubble over in revolution. You can’t control people the way you control a mute animal. This is what the socialist agenda forgets and this is why the right to home school is a vital part of our nation’s liberties.

This treaty, with all of its vague terms, could come straight out of George Orwell’s 1984. I’m always amazed that so many people trust the government to do what is right. Our founding fathers set up a system of checks and balances precisely because they didn’t trust the government to do what is right. They weren’t paranoid; they themselves were fleeing the tyranny of the British government. They knew the dangers of government. That is why the people of the nation were allowed to have guns—so they could protect themselves from the government. Make no mistake; the UNCRC is the ultimate in government interference. When the government gets into the private life of its citizens and mandates how our children are raised, we are on the path to a tyrannical government.

If you’re concerned about the path our country is on, join the grassroots movement at www.parentalrights.org by signing the petition or donating to the cause. When the constitution was crafted, the rights of the individual family were taken for granted. Today we need an amendment to continue to protect the rights that we used to recognize as inherent rights. Protect the future of our country by supporting the fight against ratifying this treaty. Make sure other parents are aware of the threat this treaty poses, not just to homeschoolers, but to all parents in this great nation.