Protecting Home-Schooled Kids From Abuse: What Can States Do For Home-Schooled Children?

There's an ongoing debate about cases of abuse against home-schooled kids. The incidents might be isolated and yet there's a growing concern among the homeschooling community, states and lawmakers.

For years, the Coalition for Responsible Home Education (CRHE) gathered data of cases of child abuse among homeschool families. They proposed some solutions for lawmakers in crafting the policies to protect the kids.

For instance, CHRE wants states to disqualify parents with previous records of abuse from homeschooling their children, more so if the parents have other criminal records. CHRE also wants states to monitor families in coordination with Child Protective Services (CPS). The home-schooled kids should have mandatory meetings with concerned agencies regularly and several times in a year to ensure their health and condition.

In the fall of 2016, Natalie Finn, 16, died at her home in Iowa due to starvation and neglect, as Parent Herald reported. A year before that 7-year-old Adrian Jones also died due to abuse. He was beaten and starved. His body was also fed to pigs.

Jones was helpless against his father. His grandmother Judy Conway has pushed for safety measures for homeschooling families since losing Jones, CJ Online reported.

Meanwhile, news of an abused child rocked Kentucky in 2014. The home-schooled girl experienced torture at the hands of her father and stepmother. Surprisingly, the state knew of her abuse but did not do enough to help her, as per Star-Telegram.

The above are just some of the cases of abuse against home-schooled children. Their gruesome cases show how the homeschooling system needs an effective solution to address child abuse cases. Some 1.8 million kids in America are home-schooled.

Some parents, however, find state intrusion as a violation of their parental rights, thus lawmakers meet resistance and objection. There's no denying, however, that some parents or guardians are guilty of abuse and that's the reality lawmakers need to address before more children become victims.