Homeschooling: Last Week Tonight with John Oliver (HBO) 

There’s a reason that formal schooling outside of the home became the norm. Most parents, even the well-meaning ones, just don’t have the knowledge, dedication, or time to teach every subject through high school.

I know exactly what you mean. A bright, motivated kid will learn things on their own in spite of awful adults, but there will be serious gaps and blockages that much of society has no understanding of. I'm glad you beat the odds, but nobody should ever have to simply because their parents chose to fail their kids.

100% true. I’m a “bright kid” who loves reading but I don’t like math. I had zero study skills or paper writing experience. I had never taken a test that wasn’t open book. I was frequently frustrated by things I didn’t understand (and couldn’t figure out by reading a book). I HATE when someone says my parents were saints for homeschooling me or that must be why I’m so smart. I would keep my kids home and do online schooling if they asked me, but I would never create a curriculum. I’m not a teacher and I while I can learn along with my kids so I can help with homework, it isn’t fair to them to have me by their main teacher

​@@DA-vw1huthank you for the inspiring comment! Im in community college and am scared when i transfer universities this will haunt me and they will not accept me no matter my grades. I had a similar homeschooling experience. Glad you made it.

@@orbeetles I did go to community college. Once I had my associates, I could have transferred. No one cares about transcripts after that. You can totally do it! And I bet you will thrive and absorb knowledge like a sponge. Have a great time

Your teacher is a hero!

Frick that's wholesome.

Hmmm “liberals were indoctrinated me” ?

Not all heroes wear capes!

Of course every teacher is not like the one you had. However, the concern and dedication your teacher showed you are often simply character traits of people who decide to go into the education profession. And that is what it is, by the way, a regulated profession of educated adults who are legally obligated to follow minimum standards of instruction. They're also supposed to demonstrate ethical behavior in their treatment of children. I'm glad you had at least one good teacher in your life. That stuff can be life changing.

So why complain about family separation border policy ?

@@deus_vult8111 Please tell us in your infinite wisdom how you know every single one of those families, often seeking asylum, deserve to be separated without any evaluation.

@@randomperson8571 I don’t. And I don’t have to. When I commit a crime and I happen to be with my son the police will detain and arrest me and separate me from my kid. Crossing illegally is a misdemeanor and not to be taken lightly.

@@deus_vult8111 Also--I can understand being anti-immigration. What I cannot comprehend is thinking, "Hell yeah, let's separate terrified small kids from their parents as they're trying to flee dangerous situations and call anyone who reasonably doesn't like this idea a woke liberal! Woohoo!"

Omg ...I have been a teacher for about 7 yrs and I am a mom. I have seen some bad parenting 😢

so true.....I have met so many selfish, rude, and just whacko parents..... that quote should be everywhere

13 public high schools not 1 proficient math student. Billions in their budget, largest ever. Now what. Oh yeah, school shootings. We will fix a lot of societal problems by understanding the proper role of government. ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-t_MuU6Ryogg.htmlsi=B1zebP21ABU7Xg2Y

The thing is a lot of people have children for themselves and not for the child, or even by accident. And then the very type of people who would be a good responsible parent both emotionally and financially are choosing to have less kids. It's honestly concerning and we might need to start considering some sort of government financial incentive to promote having stable children like many other countries japan/argentina/germany etc. The current cost of living/housing makes it much less attractive for younger people to have children, and the financial pressure has been really bad for dating and relationships in general for both men and women. It's becoming more and more like a business

@@Qdawwg America's economy much prefers low-educated worker-bee types that can be used up and replaced like parts in a machine. None of its on accident.

That Bitch saying, "we want our kid to be a wonderful nazi", Had me rolling dude WTF is wrong with Christians or just Americans, in general

Or maybe we should un-normalize acting like lobbyism is a good thing

@@_ee75 1) making it illigal would do just that. 2) moral arguemnts dont matter to the dipsh*ts ruling our countrys. 3) First step before anything else is to take the power to investigate and "punish" the wrongdoing of government members/politicians AWAY FROM THE GOVERNMENT! Because as long as they hold the power to police themselfs... guess what? NOTHING WILL HAPPEN.

Poetry.

@@_ee75 There is some lobbying that is good. As an example, in Oregon, a high school girl became friends with a holocaust survivor, and through that friendship, they lobbied to change Oregon law to require studying the holocaust, whereas previously it was not required. There was no big corporations or lavish spending here. But, it still was lobbying.

​@@_ee75on paper it's at worst morally neutral. Lobbying is just advocating your local government for a specific issue Unfortunately, in practice it's just become legalized bribery

I'm german. Here homeschooling is just outright banned. And we take this ban VERY serious. So serious that parents can lose custody of their child if they don't send their child to school. Though it seldom comes to this, usually even the most batshit insane parents that were unreceptive to more gentle persuasion fold when this card is finally played.

With all due respect, you never saw high school students who were killed in high school in your college classes and that happens in public (and private) schools. I don't blame parents for wanting to keep their kids safe in the only developed nation in the world where it's expected that children will experience violence in school

With all due respect, you appear to be unaware of the vast number of rotten teachers, lousy educators and psychologically abusive. Mean and nasty.

@@nakedpnkmoleratYes, those exist. However, that is a flaw of the public school system not a feature. A flaw that needs to be fixed. There is a myriad of possible ways to fix something like this. The political problem with pretty much all of them is that they will cost money. And some will probably cost quite a lot of money. And if there is anything that the political elite in the USA hates above else than it's investing money in the education system.

​@@fark69you also don't see the children killed by their family in college.

Ah, I was looking for a comment just like this. Also, I would honestly love to see a historian (or panel of historians) talk about how the Americas might look today if it weren't for Kissinger.

I was tripping out because today was the first time I watched this episode! 😳 John u got BINGO!

@@needthistool as an australian i had literally never heard of kissinger before he died and would also very much like this

You may be interested in the podcast Behind The Bastards, an, unfortunately, long running podcast that researches their subjects very well and with a lot of good humor.

Haha! Was so hoping someone caught this before me!!

Yup. Homeschooling laws can make it useful instead of dangerous

All homeschooled children should be required to complete and send in standardized tests every couple years. and if they get too far behind, the parents should lose homeschool privileges. and all homeschool families children should be required to have regular visits with health clinics to ensure they are healthy and not abused.

Growing up my sisters and I realized we would do better with self motivated learning. However our mom was so abusive that school was literally the only safe place we had. And even then she could show up at any moment. My senior year she made me go to work with her and I almost didn't graduate cause she made me miss 2 finals.

@@uncletrashero I'm actually shocked that isn't already a requirement.

I don't know your story but responsibility is important and I just hope you are not being dupped. Life is not always black and white and parents should be helpful in preparing you for life's drama.

You are a badass.

We are all proud of you!

That’s amazing! I wish you all the best and future success in whatever your endeavors are.

Your experience sounds eerily similar to my own, in every area, even the part about working your ass off to get good grades later on and parents taking credit for your hard work. Either way, good job on rising above the setback you went through, I know it's not easy at all. I look at what I went through as something to NOT put my future children through.

"They did nothing. I did everything." - Damn right you did. You owe them nothing. Keep it up!

Before you judge a subject, you must do your own research. This man is lying. Its scary how many people are blindly commenting their opinion based on a mans words. When i tell other parents i homeschool, they always ask why. I have never had a teacher ask me why i homeschool, they always say they are happy to hear it. That sticks with me and helps encourage me despite others opinions.

@@MoreOnPleeez There are real and significant problems with many of the available American home-school curriculums, though. For example, Abeka and ATI curriculums are both severely lacking in many areas and do not meet mandatory requirements for many other countries, although Abeka is definitely superior to ATI. I am actually fairly well researched in this area, as it's of interest to me as a homeschooling advocate.

Homeschooling is a tool, it needs regulating

@@MoreOnPleeez I'm not going to believe any of that, based on an anonymous comment.

@@minez5628 Actually many states do regulate it, the laws with homeschool are by state because states have more power in this case thanks to our bill of rights. If you have an issue with it, take it up to congress and push for a bill to change it :)

Yep, I feel like people here are whitewashing their public school experiences. It's very publicly well known that violence, bullying, sexual abuse, drug usage, and gunshots, etc. are far more common in public schools than they should be.

Completely relate to this. They do nothing about the antagonistic bullies nowadays 😢

Teachers are some of the biggest bullies

@@majesticwonder exactly!!

Ditto! 100% relatable.

I'm so sorry that you had to go through that. I'm wishing you peace, happiness, and strong self-esteem.

Public schools are a complete cultural failure and the news reports are my evidence that public schools are public fools!

What about kids abused at school? I was bullied so bad it was torture. I WISHED my parents could have homeschooled me like they wanted. School was hell for me. Principal wouldn't do anything, and the counselor said my feelings of anxiety were normal and to get over it. It got so bad I started skipping classes and entire days sometimes. Then the counselor went around to all my classes and told the teachers not to accept any makeup work from me, although only 2 listened. I had As and Bs in all but those 2, including A+ in AP Bio. Then the admin were like, well clearly you don't want to be here and then kicked me out (school is only required to age 16 here) and said they'd call the police if I showed back up. My parents tried to intervene through out, including when my books were stolen and vandalized with messages like " kill yourself fat cunt" (even though I wasn't fat, those trolls thought I had anorexia, and they'd try to make it worse). The principal just played it off like it was nothing.

@@cyborgraptor1778 of course. Thats always the argument isn't it? I was abused plenty at school too, as it happens. I'm going to set aside for a moment the implication that there's some sort of dichotomy here where the only way to protect kids who are abused at school is to leave then in the unsupervised, unchecked, uninhibited care of their parents. Thats beyond absurd, but it's also beyond the point. A kid who is abused at school has recourse. Sure, the system fails. There are schools where you have jaded counselors or no counselors, where admin doesn't care or can't be bothered or is overwhelmed. I get it. I used to teach. But a school has regulations it is bound by. If a counselor won't help, there's someone else you can go to. If admin won't do anything there are steps you can take. Other people you can appeal to, other authority you can bring to bear. All too often people don't, but there are avenues. A child that is abused at home most often doesn't even know they're being abused. Their only way to get help is to have time away from the home where someone they trust can see what they don't, recognize it for what it is, and report it to the appropriate authorities. Even just talk to other kids and find out that their mommies don't say the same sorts of things to them that yours says to you. That their parents don't pick out what they're wearing to school today by criteria like what will cover all the bruises. I taught for 3 years. And walked away because the current system is appalling in many ways. But one of the few things the system does well is protect children from abuse. I also went to college in Utah, and met a number of women who ran away from fundamentalist circles. Their girls don't go to public school. They don't watch TV. They don't talk to anyone outside the cult. That's because it's a lot harder to marry a 14 year old off to whoever the prophet gave them to when they go to school and talk to other people. Its a lot harder to get them to cooperate when they know they have rights and there are other ways to live that don't involve being raped by someone old enough to be your grandfather whenever the mood strikes him. We can protect all the kids. And we should. And the first and by far the most important step in that is recognizing that children are people too, and they have rights of their own, that should be protected. Even from their parents. Especially from their parents. 9 out of 10 times, its mommy and daddy abusing the child. Parents have far too much control over education right now and it's literally killing the kids. It sucks that you had a hard time at school. I get it. I had someone spit an entire mouthfull of water in my face once right outside my classroom with complete impunity. But at school there are ways to reach out for help that simply don't exist at home.

Hope things are looking up for you now!!!

I’ve heard of parents who claim they are homeschooling but in reality they’re doing nothing.

@@s70driver2005 They are, but there are still countless children in my former situation, and things aren't looking up.

You might appreciate the work @Responsiblehomeschoolingorg has been doing

Should have went public schooling, you payed for it in taxes.

Where I’m from there was more regulation and I believe there still is. My mom had to be a graduate herself of any grade she was teaching me. She was also required to keep any and all paperwork from a certain grade on (she kept all the paperwork from 1st to 7th grade) and when I went back to school, I was actually placed ahead when taking their testing and I got put a grade ahead thanks to my mom.

The rules regarding homeschooling vary widely from state to state.

My aunt pulled both of her kids out of school in order to 'homeschool' them. She has no diploma, has had multiple reports of child abuse, and is a felon. What the fuck

My sister-in-law has a 5th grade education and dropped out of school in 10th grade, and she's homeschooling her kids. Lord help those kids.

I know someone who says she going to homeschool her nonverbal son. She dropped out of school when she was 16. She’s been limited on jobs her entire adult life. She’s missing a lot of info. But she’s going to teach her son everything he needs? She doesn’t even know the things he needs herself!

Same dude just how can that even be a group of words that falls outta someone's mouth. Egh its terrible

Unfortunately most people will do nothing with this information.

Honestly, I read up about that once before this episode aired (though it's still wild to hear that admittance all the same). The part mentioned of dead or sexually abused children during homeschooling hit me harder by comparison to the Nazi shit, which is already rather hard enough.

@@ghin780what even is the solution to this kind of problem? Send federal agents deep into rural America, where these nazis often reside, to enforce the quashing of nazism? I mean, if they live in the cities, it should be easy enough, but we can’t even guarantee that our local law enforcement officers don’t harbor these asshats. That’s all before talking about guns.

​@@ziqi92could always go back in time, convince the US Government to actually punish the Confederacy after the Civil War instead of naming half our military bases after men we fought a war against. Like, you know. As a start.

Public school kids are abused by their parents too.

Welcome to America, the country of giant babies that will literally step over bodies in the streets as long as nobody has the authority to tell them "no".

well... only the parents are allowed to vote 😬

Same type of people that think that every fetus should be required to be born but fuck all that noise about making sure health care and food assistance is available afterward

@@Lectrikfroso true!

Yes but this is why it should be regulated, your son would be still thriving homeschooled, and we wouldn't have situation where kids are basically forgotten in the system.

No one is arguing that homeschooling is all bad.

​​@@khadeejones1136idk, a lot of these comments are only focusing on the bad and ignoring all the problems with public school while at it. There's not much "it is also good"

​@@nikkisigmon8090thank you!!! The government needs to be regulated!! This is pathetic!! So many beyond anything I can't count who can't even think for themselves and are just ready jump on anything a so called celebrity said! Sad and pathetic!

Thank you. I homeschool my child for a similar reason. He's autistic, and did fine in public school until fifth grade. He was in a new school that failed to provide a viable education plan for him and had a teacher who would touch her students a lot . I don't have a problem with that as long as the student is comfortable with it. My child is very uncomfortable with hugs, etc. but he also doesn't express his discomfort, he just becomes more and more shut down to the entire environment. I don't know how many meetings I had with his teacher, the counselor, the principal. Finally the break between semesters I removed him from school. I had found an online resource of teaching materials and the expectations of the state regarding what he was supposed to master by the end of the year. I spent the summer trying to find as many resources as possible to carry on, just seeing him not dreading starting lessons and not ending the day completely shut down and nonverbal was worth it.

I agree. Test for basics then children must be brought back to school if parent cannot do the minimum. A start as well as having background checks on parents! Our children are precious n should be treated as such, Kudos to your parents.

I had the exact opposite experience. A MIL and my own father were 30+ years in the public school system and when we said we were going to homeschool they were overjoyed.

@@true8843 If you read this whole thread of all the people abused being” homeschool “ you might change your mind … I have at least 10 friends now that teach in different parts of the country and tell horror stories of the kids they get who were home schooled .. the exceptions of these “ star” homeschool kids are the exception not the rule which John eloquently points out in this show!!!

I know numerous teachers who chose to homeschool.

@@dancingruth Maybe if they read the 1000s of comments on this thread they would think twice

I agree and one not administered by their parents.

It is actualy the case in other countries. We have a homeschooling public agence in France (cned). It gives both the teaching material, yearly program and test kids at least 4 times a year. It is mainly used by expats in countries where schools are not that good (like the US😅) but also for homeschooling in France. (For kids with handicps or that have a hard time going in class) Works quite well.

And be forced to attend public school if they anything but ace said test.

@@larry6601 We do take standardized tests in public school. It's kind of like a big thing. It happens every year to determine if the school is teaching up to standards or not. Schools that have too many students perform poorly lose funding even. It must be very hard to be as dense as you.

Homeschooling without such tests is the dumbest thing a government can allow.

I would also recommend Coursera and EdX, where you can get free access to post-secondary level course lectures and readings, though you would need to create an account. While both have a heavier focus on STEM and business, they have a bunch of stuff for humanities too. EdX also has a lot of AP course programs. For anyone reading this who hasn't heard of them, Coursera was founded by Stanford professors and you can get free access to stuff by "auditing" a course, and you would have unlimited access to the ungraded materials. It tends to have more videos but this varies a lot by instructor and subject. EdX was founded by MIT and you get free access for a certain time (several weeks) after beginning each course and, if there is a paid option, access will then be revoked unless you upgrade. It tends to have more readings and you can actually attempt assignments, which is especially helpful for subjects like programming and math. If there isn't a paid option (if the course is "archived") then you just have unlimited access here too. I've viewed everything from academic STEM stuff like Python, Bioinformatics, and Linear Algebra to professional stuff like EMT basics and Corporate Finance to fun stuff like courses on the bilingual brain or Norse mythology.

So... Basically, you're no worse of than half of the public school students?

@@Gendo3s2k ADHD and needing glasses are often picked up on by teachers. It IS ultimately up to the parents to follow up on it, but teachers make recommendations along those lines frequently. Safe sex is also frequently taught in public schools. "Good education" is obviously a subjective term, but even some of the worst public school educations are probably better than none at all.

@@Gendo3s2k yeah the kids who went to the only high school in my town didn't do much better

@@thatjillgirl teachers aren't doctors, and aren't any more knowledge about ADHD (or eyesight) than the average parent. If a teacher can pick up on it, the parent can as well. If a teacher can miss it, so can a parent.

Did Canada keep the $29k/year is taxes they collected for public school or give it the the parents to help with home schooling? Two kids and $60k per year for them would have been a lot more than your describing, so I'm guessing the government was happy to collect that tax and ignore the family.

@@deshawnwashington3798 Lol, yea, I can tell you now my parents never got any money for home-schooling, especially since we were very poor and that kind of money would have made the world of difference.

I believe that was the one from Sandusky,Ohio. It fits right in with Ohio's gerrymandered Red majority.

I yelled holy fuck at the tv so loud when she said nazi it scared my cats!

Yep, that pause gave me lots of ideas, but Nazi definitely didn't come to mind.

I expected a "Christian", or something similar after the pause, but then boom. 🤯

Well she is a conservative so….

Thanks for this insight- Your journey is what I’m hoping to offer my daughters- be the ceo of their lives and keep that love of learning alive!

This is beautiful 😮

Right, that dude from Purcellville, VA (my own state) who said child abuse is a “parental issue” is if it’s something to be worked out within the family? He sees no reasons why there should be any governmental oversight? Obviously he believes that parents have the right to do whatever they want to their children, absolutely chilling

Just like "states rights" just means the right to own slaves. It's always the same with these assholes. The "right" to own people as property, even their own kids.

I think the biggest red flag is when someone claims something is or is not "American"!

Same way they label "domestic abuse" as though that makes it any different to regular abuse.

Yeah. Parents shouldn't have rights - they should have responsibilities. And those should be enforced, if necessary.

I hope you are receiving the support you need - it’s what we all need! Keep safe & know you not alone 💕Please reach out

Glad to know you got away Hope you can find the help you most likely need Love from Texas

I´m sorry if my questions are inappropriate, and you should feel completely free to not answer any of them, but I am really interested in learning more about your situation. The notion of them telling you that you just needed to pray to get better. What do you think was going on in their mind? What were they thinking? Do you think they genuinely thought it would work, or do you think it was just manipulation? Or something else entirely? Again, don´t answer if you don´t want to.

I’m so sorry that happened to you, and I’m happy you got away. I hope you’ve learned how to reach out for help and resources and care.

I have so much love and compassion for you, and I wish I could hug you. I was there with you, miles apart, crying with you in isolation. I hope one day to fully heal, and I hope that you can too.

As a fellow homeschooled kid, I think this is definitely the right idea. I really don't get the impulse to make it totally unregulated even if too much red tape is a possibility that should be avoided.

This was my experience as well. I became disabled my first year of college and never completed due to cost and accessibility, but I have a very solid k-12 education thanks to determined parents.

This is the kind of thing we’re aiming for with our family. We’re able to accelerate in places, and take extra time in others. Public school doesn’t accommodate that at all. But HSLDA isn’t about that, it’s about destroying the entire public school system and pushing evangelical Christian nationalism.

There's no bottom in public school either. They pass students who can't read, ignore students who are getting hurt, and let kids fail until they age out at 18. That's how it's been for years here in Tennessee.

​@cs5384 this. My wife is a teacher and after teaching in shitty public schools where they are "strongly encouraged" to pass functionally illiterate 7th graders she wants to homeschool.

Wow mlau, really sorry to hear that...I hope you've been able to adjust some...to heal at least a little, but that's likely going to follow you for life, huh? Developing in childhood is so important to adulthoot...as if life isn't hard enough, not being given a fair chance from the get-go is such a travesty. I sure hope you have had relationship enough with your siblings to be able to support each other. My heart goes out to you...I hope you've found peace and love in your life.

My mother emotionally abused, abandoned and neglected me as she was as a child. I am SO glad she didn't homeschool me as she was a teacher herself.

Holy shit. I’m so sorry that happened to you.

Wow, thanks folks. Honestly my situation could have been worse. My mother was mostly just neglectful and inconsistent and very occasionally frightening. Day to day she was mostly depressed and unresponsive with occasional fits of mania that led to field trips and periods of socializing. She never beat us and had good intentions, she was just too mentally ill and religiously brainwashed to be a good teacher or mom. Especially to already traumatized kids.

We're all doing pretty well now. I became the first person in my family to get a master's degree and I have a loving husband. I've been in therapy for years now and gave up religion and have way less fear and shame in my life. My mom is still mentally ill and causes chaos in our lives regularly but she's also manipulative and charismatic when not depressed or delusional so she keeps avoiding conservatorship. Mental health care for the truly ill in this country is dysfunctional and causes no end of harm and trauma to those caught in the cycle.

I'm glad she has access to a real, helpful homeschool program and that she is getting a good education regardless of where. Good on y'all.

That's great. You're in one of the good states John talked about then. Lucky

There are good homeschooling associations out there however, there are also homeschooled kids like the ones that live across the street from my mother-in-law. The teacher is a recovering drug addict 15 years sober so that’s good but at 8 AM she turns her kids out in the yard with guns And they shoot all day. These kids are now old enough to drive, and cannot read or do basic arithmetic because all they’ve done for the last 10 years is hang out outside and shoot beer cans. Mom is off the drugs. She is not off the alcohol.

I'm the lobbyist at the organization mentioned in the segment that's fighting for common-sense reform-- Coalition for Responsible Home Education. We're founded and run by homeschool alumni, and we always center the voices of other alum. If you'd like to get involved in fighting for better laws, check us out! I'd love to have you on the team.

Homeschooling wasn’t a thing when I was growing up. From my perspective, it was older people talking about homeschooling their kids. Now we get to hear from the kids. Thank you for sharing your story.

@@samanthafield8754ooh yay, lobbyists 🤢

We need common sense regulations to protect all kids. I had surgeries in my 50s to fix damage done to me by my mom when I was a teenager - and I went to public school. When the school personnel noticed I was becoming more and more depressed they helped get me into a private school, then they went to drugging me, which made things worse. None of it helped because the cause was never addressed. The one thing no one did was look at my mom because she was the local accountant and highly respected.

It's made worse if kids have to have a car to socialize with others away from home, or have to depend on their parents to schedule to drive them anywhere.

Now if only that was what homeschooling advocates ACTUALLY wanted.....

I know a LOT of religious homeschool parents who are doing a great job with their kids. Giving them a good moral foundation, and modeling living happily in a diverse world.

​@@hannaheyeOxymoron.

​​​@@hannaheyeexactly! This isnt about homeschool this a problem aimed at God bc they are God's haters nothing more and nothing less!! So you can be secular and teach we came from monkey but people can't teach their children about a creator and was made in his image not a monkey lol😊 its so sad how far we have fallen as a society! I also blame religious Pharisees who misrepresent God who is love! And the reason peope believe the Bible is hate speech is because they don't want to follow any rules and they definitely dont what to be told that being gay is a sin and not in natural! Anyone who is tellling you, you can mutilate your genitals to become a woman is a PSYCHOPATH and you beed professional help because that is NOT normal!! And ppl who encourage this behavior are also insane and beed serious help! This is generation is a bunch of narcissist. Also look at the animal kingdom! Trust the science! You can't have babies without a man and woman and anything other that this sick, twisted, and gross! And anyone trying to teach children differently should be thrown in jail!! BECAUSE THEY ARE PREDATORS PERIOD!! What is the strange obsession about monitoring our children!?? You can not marginalize every homeschool parent as an abusive person!! Its goes both ways! Ive known more people in public schools that have horrible experiences rather than homeschooled! Bs!!! This is 1984 s***!!!

And FYI Valerie. Do you actually thinks he being john Oliver looks at these comment s? You told him thank you like you know him and he cares about! Also do you take pleasure in interfering with other peoples right to homeschool freely and to teach what they they choose wether it be about Jesus or not or are just wanting everyone to be a mindless drone like you? Obey your Government its loves you so much! Riiiiiiiiiiijghht!

​@@sisterryan5720 The problem is not aimed at God. It is aimed at abusive parents, Nazis, science deniers, and those specific parents that were running Chore Empire. If that resonates as an attack on God to you, it makes me wonder what you view God to be.

I’m so sorry for what you went through. It’s even another layer of disgusting because preachers/pastors are required to be mandated reporters. You deserved better. ❤

That's horrible. Just know that family trees don't need to be organic, the branches you graft are valid. If your family is awful, cut those branches from the tree and graft some new friends in their place. Nobody should be putting up with abuse, regardless of the source.

It really sucks. Your parents have so much control over your life, you go to anyone and risk retaliation.

...and is it one of those non-denominational "churches"?

I hope you were able to get away from them and now live a wonderful life of fun and joy - you deserve the world!

I'm glad he's doing so well! Homeschooling is wonderful for kids who have difficulty fitting in, and who have supportive parents and good academic resources.

That is not homeschooling. That is online high school.

Definitely luck is involved here. TONS of luck.

online school done in the home is not homeschooling. what kind of logic is that? your read her whole comment and that is the first felling you got. I hope you have just a wonderful day.@@allisonfisher8063

That's fine, but would that have happened any less if the state checked on his progress and safety? Or a school board or whatever?

Well put! Comedy is almost always at the expense of someone or something. There is, of course, a difference between being light-hearted about it, or being downright mean to someone. But I have no issues being mean to a nazi. Especially when she's indoctrinating her own kids.

"Comedy = Tragedy + Time" - Portal 2 soundtrack

I knew a woman who homeschooled her children, and they seem to bee success stories; but the lady was kinda'odd when she heard of others' abilities or performances beecause HER CHILDREN couldn't do that at that age. I mean, in a class of 2, your kids are always going to bee the top of the class; but that doesn't mean they'd still bee top in a class of 400 students.

@@waitz001 be, not bee.

*skewed skew (pronounced skyoo) - to bias, distort, tilt in a certain direction Whereas eschew (eh-shoo) means to avoid or side-step something. Thx for sharing. Crazy.

In my country, it's mandatory for children to go to schools and I doubt that homeschooling even exists other than in case of serious medical conditions that would deny the child the ability to attend school. Personally, homeschooling doesn't make sense from educational perspective, even if you fully devote to educate your child according to the regular school programs. Even if you use the mandated books, a parent isn't a substitute for a teacher especially when teachers specialise with their education for the purpose of teaching a single subject to students. I doubt that even a well educated parent can substitute every subject teacher other than maybe for the early part of primary school. Schools exist for a reason, if anyone could teach everything, people wouldn't study to be teachers. Homeschooling should only exist in case a student isn't able to attend school or attendance does more harm than good as with extreme cases of bullying. Not for you to think you could teach your child whatever you want and basically educationally maim him/her in the future.

@@GrantLeeEdwardsGo easy on him - he was homeschooled.

​@@lr9983She's an awesome mother.

What is Korean math?

@@Nobunagawa it's like regular maths, but exquisitely choreographed

@@HerrCron Yeah, it's taught by YG enterprises.

That's how homeschooling is suppose to be. Unfortunately, I see the religious aspect being the major factor in why people are homeschooled, and having lots of free labor around the house by having an absurd amount of children.

homeschoolers fucking love cursive and classical music lmao

Parental delusions 🙄

Congratulations on your stamina and success!

@@bonniebrush94 thank you! I’m in my mid 20s now and I’m still stumbling into situations common for others but completely new to me. Stamina is such a good word for it!

I don't know you, but I'm so happy for you that you were able to educate yourself and continue on to college. You should be very proud of yourself. I hope your siblings are doing well in life too, despite their upbringing.

X2

Every person has a social stance, but no social stance should be forced upon anyone. Keep your social bullshit out of schools just like religious bullshit is kept out of schools. No more fucking activist teachers, teaching their beliefs.

certainly can be said that not every parent is the best qualified to educate children.

@@erichancock6815 And its also clear that many teachers are not qualified to educate children as well since they want to teach a toddler about fucking.

@@erichancock6815 That, too. Even the most loving parents may not be qualified to school their own child, and even if they are, many are obliged to work instead.

Hey mood. I was homeschooled 4th-7th grade. I knew where they kept the answer books so I just waited until they were distracted and wrote down all the answers.

So, what are you doing for a job now?

@@TheAccidentalViking She is a Harvard professor.

Sounds similar to a lot of progress t high school experience

Sounds like perfect qualifications for a republican candidate, kind of sound overqualified in comparison to trump.

Thats horrible and im so sorry for you. Otoh public school teachers fuck kids regularly so thats not always the safest option either

PS don't provide that. A mother(5 kids) allowed her BF to beat her kids. The oldest girl ran away, the youngest girl lived with her father's mother, he beat one of the boys to death, and the mom and BF left them there and moved to another place. Neighbors would see the boys both under 13 and give them food but they would only eat pizza candy and packaged food because they thought they would be poisoned. When the cop found them the boy that was killed was a skeleton it had been a year. All those kids should have been in school why were there no reports by PS. Many cases the school are also abusing kids. What is needed is community people looking out for others that's what will stop abuse not PS

Public schools have a lot of sexual abuse.

Homeschooling can be an inventive, creative choice for many parents. However, it can also be a vehicle for subterfuge for parents with more nefarious motives, such as hiding child abuse in the home. I'm truly sorry that you experienced such trauma at an early age, and I'm glad the public school system gave you at least some relief from your abusive home situation.

I lived a similar childhood. I was always grounded to my room. I could tell who got home from the sound of them walking.

More veteran women should go into teacher.

Wow. Your mom is the pinnacle of selflessness. Such a great outcome.

Especially in a country like America. No child should be without basic necessities.

But her mom WAS a bad person. She neglected her child to the point she didn't even know how her own body worked at 16 years old.

Sounds like a healthy society.

What the actual fuck??? How are you doing now?

This is the story of my younger half sister. She didn't get to leave the house for 9 years. I wish y'all could talk because it's one thing I know I'll never understand how truly awful it was since I lived with my dad.

Same

@@anna-fleurfarnsworth104 i'm doing good actually! graduated high school a couple years later, and i am currently a student at one of the top 5 universities in the world. happy endings exist, thankfully!

@@gracew8548 always open to a convo! i am so proud of your sister, and i hope you don't blame yourself in any way.

It’s usually done and enacted by crazy hormonal moms on both sides of the political spectrum but particularly snake charming Christians. My best friends crazy wife wanted to do it. Thank God for the kids he put his foot down. He’s scared to divorce her because feminazi laws may award her primary custody and then they’re down that rabbit hole. Hats off to the fathers who plant their foot in the asses of moms who want to do this because they’re know it alls.

Exactly. Though the possessive is used in "my children", it does not imply ownership. It implies a duty of care.

Children are possessions. They belong to the parents. Groomer.

I agree and I’m amazed more people don’t see it this way.

@@tendiesoffmyplate9085 no. They are not possessions. They are individuals. They aren't property.

@@tendiesoffmyplate9085 you can't call someone else a groomer immediately after saying the most groomer thing someone can every say

It’s kind of the most blatant form of ‘no oversight’ that we have in America, which is absolutely disgusting when you remember that we’re talking about CHILDREN.

unsurprisingly those that have decried child indoctrination the loudest are actually protecting their brand of indoctrination. It's free thinking that they oppose the most.

*This is the very definition of GROOMING.*

And you don't hear the irony when you say that it creates a new generation of obedient voters? Precisely what do you think the public school system is designed to do? And that's to say nothing of shows like this.

​@@marklesniak8038 what the hell are you talking about ...public schools do NOT teach kids to be obedient voters...lol for who....wow have a feeling you were homeschool by God go to your local library and educate yourself

Those aren't cracks if they were put there on purpose. Your safety was sacrificed by the Moral Majority.

Thank you for sharing this. I'm sorry that happened to you. Insights from those who actuallt experienced it are very important.

I went to public school. My parents abused me mentally, emotionally, and physically basically daily. They're a well established middle class couple who made sure they were involved heavily in my schools and activities. Because of that, they were able to destroy any credibility I had with those educators. Every time I'd tell teachers or coaches, (because I got grounded for weeks on any grade lower that a b, I had to be involved in multiple sports, band, singing lessons, and student council so there were a lot of people that could have helped) no one would help me because they never took me seriously because my parents had already prepped them by telling lies about me. My mom would scream at me until she pissed my dad off enough he would come and choke me out and beat my ass until he felt guilty and told me to call the cops, which seemed like a dare I wasn't ever brave enough to take. I am now a very pissed off angry 35 year old woman who isn't afraid of men three times her size because I've been fighting them since I was 8. And as a mother myself now, as long as my kids are trying their best and getting their work in, I could care less about their grades. I hope to end all of the abuse cycles with me.

I also was severely abused, and I was afraid to have kids because of the crap I had heard about abused people being more likely to abuse others. I've raised two amazing young men who are caring, compassionate, and honorable. I just did the opposite of what had been modeled to me at every opportunity, and I treated them how I wished I'd been treated. You're doing great, and your kids will be fine. Virtual hugs your way. @@kassassin_brahgawk

We home schooled our kids but made sure they were well socialized (4h among many other things). In Maryland, if you don't register under a homeschooling "umbrella organization" which provides a curriculum and "oversight", you had to meet with someone from the county public school system once or twice per year. You had to bring in samples of schoolwork and some texts representing what you were teaching. Note that that list doesn't include bringing the actual children. Public school funding is always tight, so as little effort as possible was put into monitoring home schooling. One lady would rush to meet the county requirements. She met with a few dozen households and told us that we were the only ones that actually brought the kids to meet her. A lot of the others apparently were religious families that didn't want any external exposure corrupting their kids. Simply requiring all home schooled kids to meet with a county worker twice per year for a hour would catch at least some of those mistreating their kids. I'm so sorry for what you had to go through. :(

Would you also agree they aren’t automatically safe in the hands of the state, and it’s more likely a child is safer with a parent?

Being around teachers and priests or nuns doesn’t make a child safe either.

I can almost guarantee you a state run institution is worse than almost all parents.

There are countless videos on youtube of fine christian parents who murder their entire family

@@posivibe989 Realistically, a child is safest the more responsible adults in positions of authority they come in contact with. The main issue is isolation, not necessarily who the child is a ward of.

Don't give up. You can learn a lot online through Udemy, Cousera and Khan Academy for very little money. I work at a large tech company with a young guy who doesn't have a college degree. He makes very good money. Don't give up!

I'm also a homeschool victim. I was force fed religious and conservative propaganda all the way from kindergarten to 12th grade, and while I was still able to attend college, I had to stay in college an extra year as I was no where near well prepared as my peers

@@djboss302 I finally hit the age where I can apply for FAFSA and do remedial classes. Too bad you have to wait until you're 25.

And extreme turnover in staff, most staff lasting less than 3 years on the job, and a small fraction of retained staff will almost always be found to have systematically falsified records. It is a travesty. The number of CPS workers per state should be quadrupled and their caseloads cut by 90%.

But such an awareness might actually get people to step up. They love to complain about how terrible foster parents are but don't volunteer to get paid to help. They love to complain about judges letting kids slip through the cracks but have no problem electing the almost exclusively conservative judges pushing parents' rights. They love to complain taxes don't go towards welfare and then back a president and Congress who cut the funding by 80% so that they might not have to pay more in taxes while the security budget goes through the roof. Etc. Etc.

And also a haven for child abusers. We need to better vet people who work for the government. Like all of congress.

And what if the health inspectors are personally against home schooling, the list on both sides is long.

@@michaelhogan9053I had a really bad experience with DCFS where when I was a young kid they would interview us individually, and lie to my parents about what I said. I have incredibly loving and responsible parents but these inspectors almost succeeded in putting myself and my siblings in foster care over lies. Talk about scary

Any time these people talk about protecting children you really have to remember that they're speaking in the same terms of protecting their possessions, which often means locking them up somewhere they'll never see the light of day.

You know, that puts the idea of protecting the unborn in a whole new light.

👍👍👍

Yeah its telling for all the lip service paid to protecting children that when it comes down to it they always argue for parental rights not children's rights. And its always parental rights to control their children. Never the childs right to be their own person. "Parental rights" has become a buzz word for "treating children like their parents property"

Better that they are the property of the state

I'm sure she'll learn to appreciate it. Anyone paying attention is not sending their kids to public school.

She's in her thirties now, has a terrible relationship with her mother, and one of her sisters ended up in prison for a year. She says the best thing she ever did was move out of her house, which she did by going to college and getting a degree. I remember when we were in college, she wouldn't stop gushing about how much better it was than her homeschooling situation.

@@DLehrke🤦‍♀️

​@@DLehrke you don't just "learn to appreciate" neglect 🙄

I had to teach myself in high school because I was more intelligent than almost all of my teachers. You just never know!!

They won’t hear it.

@@andybaldman - gotta get one of those driving billboards to have it written in large font with a regular sound byte of it repeating every 10-20 seconds or so.

The sacrifice, self-denial, and discipline required to be a good parent does.

@@davidgarcia1163 But not every parent is a good one, and many parents aren't into sacrifice, self-denial, and displine.

It USUALLY makes you more responsible, but not always.

GED to community college/trades really is a decent way to get caught up. Remedial education exists for all kinds of people, whether they fell through the cracks in public school, were "homeschooled", or had an illness/crisis that derailed their education. Remind him that not being taught things that his peers know isn't his failing and even a late start is better than never starting at all. There may be setbacks, but he CAN do it!

​@@mreliaAgree with you❤❤❤

The the republiCONs would love for all of Americans to be just like that.

Conspiracy theory: companies need cheap and unskilled labour, thus homeschooling is basically unregulated

This! Exactly this 😮‍💨

Yeah my mom did that to me around 8th grade. I asked for help with my homework, she took a look then handed it back to me and said she couldn't do it. However, I was in school, so I actually had teachers I could go to for help!

How did they respond?

In fairness, math is something that has been taught very differently to different generations. Parents can be excellent in the subject and still not know how to teach their kids. In contrast to literacy, which spans generations.

@@justpassingthrough...2492 How so? Math doesn’t change like language does.

No, only public schools own kids. Who is overseeing them? Where's the accountability for them?

I see you've never been in a public school, seen anything about their detailed regulation, oversight, and accountability, and you didn't watch the video. Robot?

​@@chrispaige8880 School curriculums are constantly discussed publicly, even to the point where public media is reporting it nationwide. Parents and politicians are deciding which books are getting banned and which are allowed. Parents can and do influence school politics and school boards have to have meetings which even allow filming and publicly publishing the meetings. Schools have lots of oversight..

Yes! At the Coalition for Responsible Home Education (the org working to change these laws and protect homeschooled children that John mentioned) our motto is "Children have rights, parents have responsibilities."

@@chrispaige8880it’s called going to the fucking meetings where public discussion on the curriculum. Voting for your School board members. If you don’t like em, start a smear campaign to get them ousted. They need to have public meetings as well and you can just go to them, start a ruckus

It was awesome. I’m like you’re smarter than any of you or anyone in existence

I think generally these people are abusive because they don't want their children around. I can't imagine what would incentivize these people to homeschool their children. To be fair, it does happen, but that is definitely not a large portion of the homeschooling community.

@@isakblomberg528 Well, I'm remembering that guy who imprisoned his daughter in his basement and forced her to have something like 5 of his children, so no, not all abuse is neglect

​@isakblomberg528 child abuse is about power and control, not just not wanting the kid around. Hitting the child for being (percieved) disobedient, or even just as a matter of rote, is a means of assering authority over them, reminding the child that they and they alone have power. Homeschooling lets then double down on that, removing time the kid can get away from them and preventing teachers from reporting them and threatening that power. To be clear, you are right and most homeschooling is likely not that, but *any* is unacceptable, and that's why basic protections need to exist.

@@isakblomberg528you’d think but there are abusive parents that love the control over their children and actually enjoy torturing them

There certainly are some cases where kids actually do benefit from homeschooling. For example something like psychological or medical issues which wouldn't be adequately addressed in school.

For my home school curriculum I took a GED test to verify that I had a highschool level education, and for socialization I used boyscouts, martial arts, larp events, homeschool gatherings, and the YMCA. I probably had better socialization for a few years, but when my brother left to go to public school he got involved with a local crime syndicate and made my life hell for a few years... so I wouldn't say any of this is that simple.

I'm not defending home schooling here, as it's such a stupid thing, but remember this story is about the USA where there's not an unreasonable chance there'll be a mass shooting at school since nobody seems to care about gun control. and, of course, all those right wing 'evangelical' nut jobs there so you see why such common sense as in Greece sadly doesn't apply there. also; I always liked maths as I could go just about make it by not learning but using logic. it was an easy subject for what little we use it in my profession (health sector).

​​@@mcb4585In Greece we *typically* fix these issues by assigning specialized teachers as constant +1s for such kids. That system has been falling apart due to lack of funding and mismanagement, but when it works correctly it allows that kid to have an as close to normal school life as possible, it enables the parents to work during the school hours and it also creates new jobs for these specialized teachers. There's obviously scenarios where even this isn't a valid solution, in which case homeschooling might be the best and only option, but I really do think that it should only be the last alternative and only when approved by some official who has specialized in the field. (lots of shoulds and romanticism in what I just said, but oh well, man can dream)

Dunno if you go to jail but in Spain the mandatory age for education is until 16.

Thank you. As another person who relied on school to feel safe, my teachers were my role models and helped me through hell. Your kids are too little to tell you but you are making an impact.

damn lucky asian parent, they lucky they live in asia

Extremely touching post, but a bit confusing near the end... you've been physically abused by kindergartners who threatened your life?! 🤔

@@FakingANerve. I use to work with preschoolers (3 to 4) most were sweet and had fun! But every year we had two to three kids who kicked, slapped and spit on us and their fellow friends, usually they had emotional issues like being foster kids or alcohol fetus syndrome

@@SH-iy7ju While I appreciate your input, I still don't see how Pre-K or kindergarten students can incur lifelong spinal injuries, or can imagine them issuing viable threats to a teacher's life.

That's a mental issue, not a homeschool issue. Hope you contacted the spouse and got them help. Nah. Didn't think so.

I would agree, this seems like a very specific case not that it doesn't happen but it's rare.

Seems more like a societal problem than a homeschooling problem. Community leaves so many people isolated, but do we care about them? Na, lets target homeschoolers, because of a few bad actors. 119 school mass shootings in the US last year. If each one killed only one student, then 119 children died in 2020. A few more than the 10 shown in this video that died at their parents hands. A few fewer than the abusive parents that send their kids to school.

gotta love how you answered your own question

⁠​⁠​⁠​⁠@@teamshoemakerit can be both. The point being that the homeschooling made accountability for the mental problem all the more less likely and its effects even more exacerbated.

It's no longer legal in France except for limited reasons and still very hard to do, but it got very popular there including for families that believe the school system isn't adapted for their kids. I largely can understand that.

"Neat!"

Homeschooling coops are very different from individual parents, and they also have a wide range. Some are fanrastic, and some are cult-ish to say the least.

And was that in a state Oliver lying accused of having no or little oversight?

@@rolandwoltman7835 There is a difference between required oversight / registration for all homeschooled kids in a state, as compared to voluntary / opt-in programs.

@@rolandwoltman7835 Lying? It's not lying that they have no or little oversight. It's simple facts you can easily look up. That some people do a better job of homeschooling does not mean they are doing so because good oversight exists that makes them do that. They're doing it because they want to go above and beyond for their kids.

I'm so sorry, and I'm right there with you. My parents could have just made me totally disappear and it would have been 1) legal and 2) undetectable. Knowing as a kid that my parents had that kind of total power and I had basically no rights was... pretty scary. We need at least the basic reforms that CRHE is pushing for.

@@FireddaCouldn't have said it better myself. "Total power" is exactly what is being given here, no questions asked and no oversight given. And it's a control that, if they play their cards right, can stretch well into adulthood. Feel free not to read all this, but as a little more info on how fucked up it can be legally for anyone who doesn't realize: I don't know how it is in other states, but for me, it was physically impossible for me to get any form of identification (state ID, driver's license) without a parent signing-- because I had no prior school ID or record of living anywhere. I was only able to finally convince my father to let me get a state ID at 21 (after pleading since I was 15) under assurance that I could start working and pay bills. Before that, the only record of me still existing was a tick on their tax forms saying I was a dependent. Any person who genuinely loves and supports their children should be able to look at any amount of abuse and be able to say "oh, yeah, I can deal with a minor inconvenience to help protect kids going through that."

I think somewhere I came to the conclusion that a good education was largely made up of three things: good teachers, involved parents, and self-motivated students. Students can get a good education with two of the three, but only having one is really tough, and none is guaranteed failure. Things like good facilities with HVAC and having office supplies may have been taken for granted.

I’m so proud of you. That ACE comment too me out tho. 💀💀💀