P. Ezra Vasquez's Blog

I read somewhere (I think it was in one of Steven Pinker’s books) that stepparents are more likely to abuse children.

I understand why some people choose home schooling. Moreover, it’s ironic that if I were a parent, I might home school children to keep them away from the kind of political extremists who fought for the right to home school in the first place.

The fact remains, nevertheless, that home schooling affords opportunities for abuse. The following story is harrowing.

H/T to Diane Ravitch for posting this article by Peter Jamison, which originally appeared in the Washington Post on December 7th.

Brock Garvin sat in the basement watching TV on the night of Roman’s disappearance, listening to the police officers banter as they opened the Tough Storage Tote bins, he was in a fog. He had been up all night playing “Dark Souls” on his Xbox, and was upset that he hadn’t been allowed to sleep for most of the day, as he usually did.He was also jarred by the entrance of unknown grown-ups into the house. The family had moved to California from Michigan just a few months earlier. Long isolated, they were now strangers to everyone around them.But Brock wasn’t worried about Roman. If his stepbrother had run away, whatever he found could hardly be worse than what he had escaped.Then the lid on one last bin snapped open, and the officers’ laughter stopped.Even in his benumbed state Brock felt something strange pass through the room, as if the air pressure had suddenly dropped. It was quiet for a moment, then the police began pulling on latex gloves.

What Home Schooling Sometimes Hides: Child Abuse | Diane Ravitch’s blog