Conditional right?

I just recently filled out and sent in a form to notify the local school board that we intend to homeschool.   I don’t really like the idea of answering to a school board as to how I choose to raise my children so it didn’t sit so well with me.  Of course I am grateful that in Ontario Canada sending my letter of intent to homeschool is sufficient enough information to indicate that we are providing adequate education for our children.   Despite how grateful I should feel for the leniency my country allows, I begrudgingly signed it and sent it along.

Should I be put out by this request?  Am I just being stubborn or ridiculous for feeling cantankerous about sending in a form each year?  It could be argued, and is, that it is important to ensure that some families are not simply keeping their children home for selfish reasons.  It could also be purposed that it is the parents who happily send their children to school each day and count the days of summer vacation until their children are back in school that are selfish.  It has been debated that it is crucial in maintaining a list of children who are not in the school system to keep track of them for their own safety.  It is questioned, what about the children who do want to go to school but their parents will not let them? If every parent exercised their right to choose the education path for their child without accountability then perhaps there may be an increase in parents who keep their children out of school for reasons that involve abuse.   

Are children safer in school systems?   The violence and bullying that continues to occur in schools is something parents complain about a lot.  Many high schools and some primary schools have metal detectors in place because of the risk of violence.  Certainly some homeschooled families may have an abusive environment.  Schooled children can also be and too often are in abusive home environments despite the detection methods that are in place. 

Without doubt there are some children who would choose going to school over being home educated.  I wonder though why we don’t ask how many schooled children are asking to come home?  How many times does a child have to feign an illness for parents and teachers to realize that they are asking for help, asking for change?  I remember a big debate in a small community in southern Ontario a number of years ago where a young teenage girl wanted to go to high school but her parents refused.  I felt for the girl and believe that her considerations should have been taken into account.  It seemed as though the parents were viewed as monsters for holding her back from an education.   Yet everyday parents are holding children back from getting an education suited to them.  Everyday children are sent to institutions when they would be best to a different learning environment.  Who is monitoring these families to ensure that children who should be home educated are afforded that right? 

Do parents of children enrolled in school have to fill out “intent to institutional school” form each year?  Education is a right but institutional schooling is only one option.  The right to choose the education path for a child should not be put to question above any other option.  It is not our right to chose the education method if it is in line with the social majority.  It is just simply our right.