Police Remove 10 Christian Homeschool Kids From Parents' Custody Due to Off-The-Grid, Self-Sufficient Lifestyle

Just out of curiosity—and remembering that it appears that some counties in Wisconsin do NOT require building permits—I looked up that issue in Kentucky. It appears that they do, but it’s not that strict Here’s the residential code if you’re interested. Existing structures are grandfathered in, additions are not. Small sheds, < 200sf, are exempt. For that matter, most temporary lighting, heating, and such structures are exempt.

Yes, it looks like the home of a fairly lazy hillbilly, but by Kentucky codes, it can be inhabited as long as it predates their codes and keeps the family warm and dry. Even that is flexible if the family has been there a few years and the statute of limitations on failure to get a permit has expired.

Hence the big question here is whether authorities had proper authority to act, and whether they have presented the family with that. Everything else is a diversionary tactic from the central 4th Amendment issue, including the allegations of the man’s older son of abuse.

Mr. Fericks,

I don’t think these people are ‘heroes’ - I don’t even know what that means as far as this topic is concerned. You are right, we don’t have facts, so we go with the principles at stake.

So let’s start with school - By what standard would you determine that unschooling is not education?

When this story hit, I took a look around the family’s website, and noticed that the kids were reading To Kill a Mockingbird and doing online education through Starfall. I have no idea if these kids are are being educated up to ‘minimum standards’ or are being ‘equipped for life’, and I suspect you don’t either. From what I’ve read, the kids can read, do basic math, cook, sew, garden, care for animals, and aren’t spending hours in front of a TV or Playstation. So far so good.

I have to say that the idea of ‘minimum standards’ is hilarious, because public schools are only required to provide the opportunity for a child to be educated, they cannot and do not guarantee results- just check out the state’s NAEP. There are no repercussions if 30% of the children in KY schools score below average in reading in 4th and 8th grades on standardized tests. Schools just ask for more funding. 30% of KY children is considered an acceptable loss, because it’s gov’t, and while they make the rules, they don’t have to abide by them. If a homeschooled child performs below average, they are put in a public school where they can officially fall through the cracks. Because it so much better when we can document failure with taxpayer funds.

There is the issue of whether or not the family was in compliance with homeschooling laws in KY, and if they aren’t, then that’s wrong.

Now - by what standard do we judge someone’s home as being adequate? The law clearly states that children aren’t to be removed from a home unless they are in imminent danger of serious bodily injury. So - the lives of these kids are fairly well-documented, and I’ve not yet seen anything that would make me think that these kids are in imminent danger, even if they are living in a hovel.

I think some of this is cultural. “Danger” to a farmer is much different than what it means to city folk. Sharp implements, large machines, chemicals and fuels, and even guns are part of the rural way of life, and kids grow up knowing how to navigate this safely, just like kids in the city deal with traffic, subways, avoiding the ‘bad part of town’, vandalism and gang violence, etc… Each group tends to think the other is bonkers. :)

Families experiencing poverty may be targeted if we start defining certain standards of living as being dangerous or neglectful by default. Filth is one thing, dirt is another.

Then we come to the term “loving” - do these parents not love their children? How do we measure if a parent is “loving”? If the kids are removed, how do we guarantee that the foster home in which they will be placed is more “loving” than their parent’s?

• In 2013, 60 percent of the child sex trafficking victims recovered as part of a FBI nationwide raid from over 70 cities were children from foster care or group homes.

• In 2012, Connecticut reported 88 child victims of sex trafficking. Eighty-six were child welfare involved, and most reported abuse while in foster care or residential placement.

• In 2012, Los Angeles County, California reported that of the 72 commercially sexually exploited girls in their Succeed Through Achievement and Resilience (STAR) Court Program, 56 were child-welfare involved.

• In 2007, New York City identified 2,250 child victims of trafficking. Seventy-five percent of those experienced some contact with the child welfare system, mostly in the context of abuse and neglect proceedings. HuffPo

There are obviously no easy answers here, and our instinct is to do ‘whatever it takes’ to protect children, but I’m doubtful that more gov’t will ever be in the best interests of kids.​

Susan,

I agree with you that there are no easy answers here. I also think (don’t have the info) that laws were broken in taking the children. So no, I am not defending the state. My concern is that we should be a little skeptical of the family as well. It seems that many believers have read the first couple of paragraphs of a news article, and assumed that the children were taken simply because the parents “unschool” and live “off grid”. It sounds like there is more to it.

Setting the legal issues aside, I also think it is important for us to consider whether or not “unschooling” and “living off grid” is an honorable way to raise children. If “living off grid” means that the children don’t have SSN, don’t have transcripts, don’t know history, etc., then I say the parents are harming their children. Even if you disagree with the word “harm”, you must certainly admit that when the children turn 18, their options for college, jobs, etc., will be severely limited.

I can’t judge, because I don’t have all the info. But the state should judge, because they have a duty to protect the children from neglect and abuse. This is a legitimate duty of state government. Sounds like the state may have violated the parents’ rights, but I don’t have all the info. My prayer is that the state will follow the law and judge righteously. My prayer is also that the parents will do a better job of providing for their children’s physical, spiritual, and social needs.