Homeschooling German Parents Granted Asylum in the U.S.

With all of the success home schooling has brought to so many young people, I can’t believe that there are still places like Germany that outlaw the practice.  From The Christian Institute (read here):

A Christian family from Germany have been granted political asylum in the US after facing the threat of prison for home schooling their children.

Uwe and Hannelore Romeike, who are evangelical Christians, were forced to flee Germany as they wished to educate their five children at home.

Home schooling is still illegal in Germany under laws introduced during the Nazi era.

The German law means that parents who choose to home school their children can face fines or even imprisonment.

…

The family endured harassment from the authorities, and on one occasion police officers came to the family’s home and forced the children to attend school.

The family fled to the US after Germany’s highest court ruled that in severe cases of non-compliance social services could remove home schooled children from their parents.

What has come of Western Civilization when parents aren’t allowed their natural right to train up their own children? Thankfully a U.S. judge recognized this right:

Describing the case, Immigration Judge Lawrence O. Burman said that “the rights being violated here are basic human rights that no country has a right to violate”.

He added: “Homeschoolers are a particular social group that the German Government is trying to suppress. This family has a well-founded fear of persecution…therefore, they are eligible for asylum…and the court will grant asylum.”

The Romeike family were represented by the Home School Legal Defense Association (HSLDA).

Mike Donnelly, HSLDA staff attorney and director of international relations, said: “It is embarrassing for Germany, since a Western nation should uphold basic human rights, which include allowing parents to raise and educate their own children.

Yet some defend the German system:

But Lutz Gorgens, a German Consul General based in Atlanta, defended the German system saying that “parents may chose between public, private and religious schools, including those with alternative curricula like Waldorf or Montessori schools”.

There are certainly some cases in which an absolute lack of education could be child abuse, and I think there is a place for intervention there (though preferably at the local level and ideally through non-governmental means like family members, churches, and neighbors).  There is room for the government to play a role in extreme cases, but that is not what’s going on in Germany.

The German government has clearly defined itself as the primary caregiver and provider for all German children.  It has assumed the basic parental rights as its own.  It essentially delegates or grants those rights to the child’s true parents as it deems fit.

This practice goes beyond education policy; it comes down to a matter of basic human rights.  The family is the core element of society, the simplest social building block.  Parents have a natural right and duty to care for their children and train them up.  The German government is subverting that right in the worst possible way – stripping parents of their basic function as parents.

Beyond this fundamental violation of the natural order, I find these laws absolutely absurd from a practical standpoint.  Home schooling has proven to be an amazing success on the whole.  Home schoolers score extremely well on standardized tests, they win academic competitions, they do well in college, and they are increasingly being able to join in the same extracurriculars as public or private school students.

We are moving in the right direction in our country – I only hope that Germany wakes up to the ridiculousness of its policies soon.  In the meantime, it’s good to see Romeikes are safe in our country.  I wonder how many more parents are suffering pressure from the German government as they try to fulfill their duty to train up their children to the best of their ability.