Smoke and Mirrors

I realise that this post is a bit late but I have enjoyed a summer cold. Summer? Or is it Global Warming? Or is it Climate Change? That is the question. Much like the weather, the latest UK governmental education initiative is more smoke and mirrors than actual substance.

Apparently now homeschooling parents must be placed on a register in order to monitor them for abuse. I would laugh most caustically if it weren't for the fact of the abuse at a nursery in Plymouth. It is obvious that the government feels it is necessary to be "seen" doing something rather than actually doing something. Handgun crime has not fallen as predicted after the draconian gun laws instituted after Dunblane. This register, like the removal of legally owned and held handguns from innocent private citizens, will not solve a problem that is endemic in society. It merely attempts to distract the public from the true depth of horror this nursery abuse exposes.

As I have said before, abuse is part of our society. Children abuse children -- we call it bullying and try to claim it is character building. Teenagers abuse teenagers -- we call it gang violence and blame parents for not controlling their children. Adults abuse adults -- we call it lots of things from "Office Politics" to "Spousal Abuse" to "Crime". But if we look carefully at our society -- the whole thing worldwide from Afghanistan to Zimbabwe -- it is obvious that mankind is little better than the animals. Registers for the reporting and prevention of abuse will only be useful if someone somewhere is willing to do something about it.

The Homeschooling Register will not stop abuse. Nursery Workers in the UK, like teachers or anyone working with children, must have a criminal background check. I have had several. Yet, Vanessa George and Angela Allen had these and nothing came to light. To their employers at Little Ted's they were safe, acceptable workers who could be trusted with small children. If the authorities are unable to identify abusers they have done a CRB on, how do they think they will be able to spot abusers in a homeschooling situation?

The claim that homeschooling makes abuse more possible is an interesting question. In my years of teaching I ran across one, what I thought was real, case of abuse. I did as I was instructed to do, informed the various authorities and ... nothing happened. Actually, that is not true. The family moved 4 months after the initial investigation to another part of the country. Did the investigation follow them? I doubt it. From what I can tell of the homeschooling community, most parents take this difficult, expensive and emotive decision to homeschool ONLY after all other options have been closed to them. Many enter into homeschooling because their children have been abused by the failures of the education system to either educate children or protect them from harm.

So what is the point of this new layer of intrusive bureaucracy? It is to distract people from the real issue that state controlled education is a fiasco with little ability to meet the most basic of mandates: a literate populace. It will provide those finger pointers with yet another tool to damn those who wish to teach and learn outside of state controlled parameters. It will allow the Local Education Authorities to attempt to control more of the non-traditional classrooms. It will make the Government look responsive. It will do everything BUT address the real issue.

Smoke and Mirrors. Where'd'ya look? Where'd'ya look!