Judge Considers ‘Rigid Faith’ Grounds to Order Girl into Public School

Judge Considers ‘Rigid Faith’ Grounds to Order Girl into Public School

www.dakotavoice.com

Amanda Kurowski is a 10-year-old homeschooled girl who performs well academically and is socially well-adjusted. But her strong Christian beliefs were reason enough for a New Hampshire court to order her out of homeschooling and into a public school.

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[edit on 9/2/2009 by semperfortis]

The court fact finderstate the she should be put into public school due to her strict religious beliefs. The is an intrusion of a mother's right to raise her child. Is this the courts responsiblity? The article states that she is well adjusted academically and socially but needs to be diverse in her religious belief structure. This is again a travesty againsts the rights of a parent over their daughter. The father is mad about something else probably trying to raise child support. He had not had a problem with her being home schooled until now. Seems fishy on his part.

www.dakotavoice.com
(visit the link for the full news article)

[edit on 9/2/2009 by semperfortis]

Though I am more a spiritualist than religious I think this is ridiculous! Doesn't the Constitution give us freedom of religion? It just seems to me now a days that judges are more into ruling by opinion than by actual law.

It is the parent's job to raise their children! I can understand if the girl was in an abusive household or anything of that nature. But because she isn't religiously diverse? C'mon.

Get out of our homes, damn it.

I agree. Seems a little fishy for the court to order based on her needing diversity in religion, and point of view. The parent has the right to homeschool their children if they wanted. I could see if she wasn't excelling academically then it would be a problem, but it even goes on to say that "generally interactive with her peers, her religious beliefs were seen as being held a bit too sincerely." So because she is being taught Strong Faith, it's a problem?

If the father is the one pushing for this change, then I don't see any problem with it. He has every right to input in the Religious upbringing of his daughter! It wasn't like the state just picked this girl for no reason, there is obviously a disagreement between the parents, and the state is having to act as a moderator!

I think it is great that the father is pushing for a well-rounded education! I like home-schooling, but if my wife was being fanatical about something, then I would want my kids in public school!

The article cited doesn't give much information really, and seems biased towards the old "christians persecuted " routine. Yes parents have rights, but so do children, Without more information, I'll reserve judgement on this one. Things are not always as they seem, particularly when reported by the "christian" press.

reply to post by getreadyalready


If the father has a problem with the childs religion maybe he should get more involved and educate her rather than letting a court make a decision for her. Does he get scheduled days with her? If so, he needs to take her somewhere she can become more diverse. Don't stick her in a public school where her education will still be limited! By being put into a public school how is she going to learn anything about the diversity of religion? I went to public school and I don't remember ever getting schooled on any religion.

If the girl wants to become religiously diverse she will explore the options herself. I grew up in a strictly Catholic household but that didn't stop me from exploring other religions and making my own decisions on my faith or lack of faith.

Children are a lot smarter than we give them credit. When she gets older she can make her own decisions. Hell, she may even be able to make her own decisions now.

I know a couple people that were homeschooled and taught totally in the Christian faith. They were never "radical" in their beliefs. They grew up to very self sufficient and VERY social people. They were more mature and more reliable. I almost married one them and he found nothing wrong with my belief systems. He is still one of my good friends.

I found people in public school to be more biased than any of the home schooled kids I knew.

reply to post by angrymomma


Most home schoolers are not radical, but it the father has a concern in this case, then it is probably an extreme example. I just don't like how the OP makes this sound like the government is doing it! The government is only weighing the father's wishes against the mother's.

If the father is pushing for this, then he is probably already involved in the girl's life, and any amount of visitation won't be able to compete with the 24 hour contact the mother has, especially while she is homeschooling! That may be some more of the father's motivation to get the girl out of the house more!

Imagine trying to teach your daughter to be open minded while 99% of her time is spent with someone teaching fire and brimstone!! The little bit of influence you had would only stress the kid out more, because she would think you were going to hell and trying to take her with you!!

Now the child is stuck in a public school system that caters to the slowest. She's, in all liklihood, going to be bored out of her mind... ...and a bored child is a child that's going to get into trouble of some sort.

The child already attends 3 classes a week in public school to balance out the social wishes of the father (as agreed to between the parents). The problem is that the court verbally based their ruling using religion as a factor, not on the pure merits of the best education for the child.

reply to post by getreadyalready


I guess we would just have to see the girl in person and in her natural environment. We'd also have to see what exactly the mother is teaching the child, though as a parent it is her decision on what to teach her child.

The article stated that the mother put her in gymnastics and softball I believe, for the father. So, she was getting out more.

Like I stated before, if the father wants to teach her more perspective it is his job as a father to do so. If the girl is presented with other options by her father but still remains Christian then the girl has made up her mind. If the father is showing her other perspectives and that there other options than the child is already getting both side of the story and there is no reason to pull her out of homeschool. BUT, that is my opinion haha and everyone it entitled to have one ^_^.

I was never exposed to anything but the Catholic belief system 24/7 and I still came out with my own beliefs. But maybe I'm just different haha.