MP Mark Field has tabled an Early Day Motion which you can send to your MP to ask him/her to sign.
We could include a quick notes on the disproportionate nature of Badman's proposals - the use of the sledgehammer to crack a nut, the sledgehammer being the disproportionate level of intrusion and control, the loss of privacy in family life, the stress for families who are highly likely get nothing positive whatsoever from the intervention and who realise that they face the risk of over-cautious referrals to social services, the total disregard for the voice of the child, and the immense unconsidered costs of the whole pointless exercise.
We could suggest instead that the better way for the state to proceed would be to use a nutcracker, ie: the system of proportionate intervention which is pretty much how things stand right now. Contact us by letter, and if you receive a response that suggests that all is well, assume that it is, for you are highly likely to have heard about a family who actually do have problems.
(More information on Early Day Motions here.)
12 comments:
Could someone please post a draft letter that could be sent to my MP?
I have never written such a letter, so some help would be welcomed. We will be home educating our son 3, and daugter, 13 days old :), so feel that we can not just sit back and hope that all ends well.
Thanks
Maria
there are some letters here
http://homeschooler.org.uk/links/resources/letters-mps
May I make one comment Maria - you should be educating your son already. By 3 my daughter could read simple books - it was quite interesting listening to her practice her words when she thought no one could hear.
Ivan, I fully expect that she IS but it all becomes official when they reach 'statutory school age' and a lot of people don't say they're HEing until that point. Why should they after all?
ivan, perhaps she is planning on home educating precisely because she feels some children are pressured too early?
@firebird, agreed.
This Early Day Motion
http://edmi.parliament.uk/EDMi/EDMDetails.aspx?EDMID=38984&SESSION=899
has been put forward by Timothy Farron
D
Sorry for the stupid question but what are Early Day Motions and what are they for?
Thanks for all the help.
Ivan, as Firbird points out, I do not refer to home educating our son now, because he has not reached the age of compulsory education. But he can read most of the Peter Rabbit series of books by himself, and the look of amazement on our consultant obstetricians’ face when L started pointing to and naming the bones on a poster in her office using the medical names, (carpal, cervical vertebrae, cranium, etc) was rather amusing. However, he also likes kicking a ball, jumping in muddy puddles, and cuddles when he is sad. So yes, we are educating our son already, I just didn't realise that I had to disclose that before asking my original question, and also I am becoming rather concerned that maybe it's not just the powers that be that think they have the right to tell us how we should be bringing up our children.
Many thanks again for all the responses.
And Ivan, I really am not looking to start falling out with other people who home educate, there already seems to be a lot of that going on; it was just that your comment did seem to have an edge to it, that's all.
Hi Mum of 6 - Funny you should ask...I had intended to include a link to an explanation about EDMs. Have done so now!
See here:
http://edmi.parliament.uk/edmi/
Hi Maria,
Thanks for the prompt re the draft letter. I am finally ready to send one I think!
Better though, to phrase similar ideas in a different way, and make it entirely your own.
Will post one up very shortly, but I do think that the principle of proportionality is key to our arguments at present.
HTH.
Bws,
Roxy
Maria,
It sounds like you're doing a fantastic job with your children. Well done. I wish I'd home educated mine from the beginning and not sent them to school. You are very fortunate to be able to watch their incredible journey from the start.
Danae
http://www.threedegreesoffreedom.blogspot.com
To Maria, I did not mean my comment to disparage you or anyone, but just wanted to point out that we are teaching our children all the time they are with us.
I must also congratulate you and your son, he sounds something like mine at that age, except with mine it was his ability to take complex things apart and put them back together and they still worked.
Both of my children did not need pushing to learn, rather they pushed me to teach them and that was 45 years ago. There is also the fact our children by watching us so in many ways we are teaching them all the time.
Firebird, I must try and remember that with the present government everything must be 'official' because they want to control everyone in all ways possible, so please forgive me if I forget as such a notion is foreign and abhorrent to me.
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