Just Because We Can Homeschool Doesn't Mean We Should be indifferent to the Plights of Others!!

February 5, 2007

HSLDA--German Homeschooled Child Sentenced to a Child Psychiatry Unit

Dear HSLDA Members and Friends:

The situation for homeschoolers in Germany is getting worse each week.
Just last Thursday, a 17-year-old homeschooled girl was forcibly
removed from her parent's custody by over 15 police officers. The
homeschooled girl has been placed in the child psychiatry unit of the
Nuremberg clinic.

Homeschooling is not legal in Germany. There are over 40 cases
currently in court or being appealed. Christian families are fleeing
Germany for safety in nearby countries. The unconscionable treatment
of sincere and faithful Christian homeschool families is a sad legacy
from Germany's past. Homeschooling was first banned under Adolf
Hitler, and that ban is still enforced today.

Many families who have had their children forcibly taken from their
home each day and taken to government school have since fled Germany,
but there are still some homeschoolers. The latest incident involves
17-year-old Melissa Busekros, the girl sent to the Nuremberg
psychiatry unit. What is being done to this sensitive girl--just to
set an example of enforcing the compulsory schooling at all costs--is
reprehensible and causing trauma to unassuming and lovable Melissa.

In the summer of 2005, when Melissa was 15, she was told she would
have to repeat the seventh grade at the government school because she
was failing math and Latin. She had good grades in the rest of her
classes, so her parents tutored her at home for those two subjects.
When the school officials found out they were angry and then expelled
Melissa, so the family began to homeschool full time.

However, the Youth Welfare office then took the family to court
because they were homeschooling. Then, on Tuesday, January 30, 2007,
social workers and police officers came to the Busekros home and
forcibly took Melissa to the child psychiatric unit where she was
questioned for four hours before she was returned home. Then two days
later, 15 police officers and social workers came to the Busekros home
and took Melissa away from her parents by force and placed her in the
child psychiatric unit.

According to Melissa's father, Hubert Busekros, this treatment was
justified by the psychiatrist's finding two days previously that
Melissa was supposedly developmentally delayed by one year and that
she suffered from school phobia.

Nevertheless, one organization concerned with education expressed
outrage at the treatment of Melissa Busekros.

"The Netzwerk Bildungsfreiheit [the Network for Freedom of Education]
condemns this inconsiderate and totally incommensurate behavior on the
part of the officials involved and demands that they give Melissa her
freedom and return her to her family immediately," the group was
quoted in an article on its website. To view the site, as well as more
information and a photograph of the Busekros family, go to
http://www.hslda.org/elink.asp?id=3697 .

ACTION

We ask you to take a moment and do two things: First, call or email 
the German Embassy and give them this message:

"We are shocked to hear of the Busekros' homeschooled daughter Melissa 
being removed from the custody of her parents and being placed in a 
child psychiatric unit. This is an outrage that hearkens back to the 
Nazi era. We cannot believe a free nation would put a homeschooled 
child in a psychiatric ward for 'school phobia.' The attack on the 
homeschool families throughout Germany must stop."

The German Embassy can be contacted at: 

Dr. Klaus Scharioth
Ambassador
German Embassy
4645 Reservoir Road NW
Washington, DC, 20007-1998
(202) 298-4000

The embassy can be emailed from its website: 
http://www.hslda.org/elink.asp?id=3696 .

Second, pray for the German situation. Only God can change the 
situation for homeschoolers in Germany. Attempts by German 
homeschoolers to organize or to change the laws through court continue 
to be lost, but with God all things are possible. We ask that you cry 
out for the German homeschool families. 

BACKGROUND

German parents have been fighting for the right to homeschool for the
last seven or more years. However, all efforts have failed in the face
of the stubborn German government and their official response that
they cannot "allow a counterculture to exist."

We believe the hope for Germany will be via the international pressure
bearing down so that they abandon their witch-hunt after homeschoolers
and their terrible treatment of these innocent families.

Homeschoolers remaining in Germany are hoping to legalize
homeschooling in one state and thereby make a safe-haven for
homeschoolers. However, the German homeschoolers are so few and the
attacks so intense that it is hard to make any progress in this area.

If you wish to assist the Germans in their struggle for homeschool
freedom, or with many other struggling countries, you can donate to
HSLDA's international fund via the Home School Foundation at
http://www.homeschoolfoundation.org/ .

Your donation will be used to meet the homeschooling needs in Germany.
After meeting the known homeschooling needs in this country, if there
are remaining funds, this money will be transferred to the
Foundation's International Fund to meet homeschooling needs in other
countries.

Thank you for standing with these families and taking a moment to
assist them.

Sincerely,

Christopher J. Klicka
HSLDA Senior Counsel
Director of State and International Relations

Cool Videos

This is one of the most patriotic movie videos I've seen. It made me cry.

::WARNING:: AFTER THE FIRST SONG CUT IT OFF. I CAN NOT ENDORSE THE LANGUAGE OF THE SECOND SONG ALTHOUGH I DEFINITELY UNDERSTAND THE SENTIMENT::

In other news, I'm simultaneously in the seventh heaven (almost) and wondering over the future. Tell y'all why later.

TeenPact's in one week. I absolutely can't wait.

While I wasn't their my thoughts were with you. Region Nine, y'all rock. Congratulations Jason, and Nichols/Escobar. McNair you really deserve it. Keep it up everyone, and show the nation what this region is made of again at nats.

Also, I finally found an awesome version of one of the best songs. I've been looking for a copy of this song since I first heard it at the PHC History TLC in the summer of 2004. http://youtube.com/watch?v=8e1qC-yFUj4

Shameless Free Advertisement

If you enjoy following politics, one great news source is the GenJ blog. You should all check it out and leave D. Price some comments.

Roanoke Library System

Below is a front page article (1/26 Roanoke Times) about our local library system. Most of you won't care, but its a real problem here. The Raliegh Court Library next to Patrick Henry High School is 1/2 a mile from my house. After school 3-4 students will gather around a computer staring at indecent photos, posting and making wierd and vulgar comments. When they are asked to be quiet they cuss the librarians, and they complain that they get strange looks. Whatever happened to being quiet in the library? Anyway... I know y'all won't care, but I'm just happy that the media is finally picking up on this problem. Alot of people in the neighborhood have been trying to solve this problem for over a year.

Students book it to the library

With nowhere else to go, students socialize among the stacks.

By Amanda Codispoti

During geometry class at Patrick Henry High School, a group of friends often joke with one another about what they'll do after school.

"Are you going to the homeless shelter today?" freshman Alex Talin will ask her friends.

Talin and her pals are referring to the Raleigh Court Library Branch, which is adjacent to the school.

The girls go there almost every day because they have nowhere else to go while they wait, sometimes for hours, for their parents to get off work and pick them up.

The girls and a dozen other students congregate in and outside the library, chatting and using the computers. They can get loud, and others in the library are sometimes frustrated that it's not the quiet place they expect it to be.

The Raleigh Court branch is one of many in Roanoke that acts as an after-school day care of sorts. Like all branch libraries in Roanoke, the Raleigh Court branch is next to a school, making it easily accessible to students.

The Salem Public Library, too, is overwhelmed with as many as 40 students after school.

"I feel like it's an ad hoc teen center," said Janis Augustine, director of the Salem library. Because the librarians have to keep an eye on the students, they can't work as efficiently, she said. "It's somewhat frustrating because I know the kids need a place to go and blow off steam. They really don't have any other place to go."

The Salem library is working with the city, schools and police to address the problem.

Last school year, Salem DARE officers began patrolling the library a few days a week, said Lt. Tim Guthrie of the Salem police.

"The biggest thing is the kids just become loud and disruptive for a library setting," Guthrie said.

In Roanoke, school resource officers will assist the library with disruptive students, but it's the library's responsibility to manage the students, said Officer Rodger Hogan, a resource officer at Patrick Henry.

"We're not the Dewey Decimal detectives," he said.

Not all students cause problems.

Some study.

But others make it obvious they're not there for the books.

"I don't even really like to read," said Danikka Laya, a Patrick Henry freshman.

Most students go online, updating their myspace.com pages, playing computer games or checking out the latest cellphone accessories.

They gather around computers, laughing and pointing at pictures. Others loiter outside if the weather's nice, catching up with friends or sneaking a cigarette.

One patron, Mildred Weddle of Roanoke County, said she enjoys being around the children and hearing them laugh. One even helped her when she had car trouble Thursday.

Another patron, though, said she avoids the Raleigh Court branch library during after-school hours because of the students.

"They take up all the computers and there's nothing for the little kids to do," said Sheila Pauley, a mother of two.

Patrons and librarians may voice their displeasure, but the library is a public place.

Librarians or officers can ask a disruptive student to leave, but their only other methods of enforcement are stern looks and verbal scoldings.

"The librarians freak us out because they just kind of stare at us," Talin said. "They are not really polite."

Signs around the library also seem to hint that it's not OK to use the library as a day care.

"No trespassing," read signs mounted on the outside of the Roanoke libraries.

Another sign, this one posted near the checkout counter at Raleigh Court, advises that, "Although we are concerned about the wellbeing and safety of children, Library staff cannot assume responsibility for care or supervision of children ..."

For parents, though, it is a comfort knowing their kids are in a safe place.

"I would prefer her to be here than out running around the block getting into trouble," said Joan Novoa of her 14-year-old daughter, Kelly Considine, who usually goes to the Williamson Road branch after school.

Sheila Umberger, director of Roanoke libraries, said she is thrilled that the students come to the library and wants to do more to accommodate them.

"It's very important for our kids to be respected and given a place to be," she said.

She acknowledged that their presence can create a problem for librarians and patrons, and she said the library is working toward solutions.

The Roanoke library is collaborating with school officials and resource officers to set guidelines for the students.

One solution the Raleigh Court branch and police have recently put into place is a barring program. If a student is disruptive, police are called and give the student a form banning them from the library. If the student returns, he or she could be charged with trespassing.

Hogan said no students at the Raleigh Court branch have been charged in the two or three weeks the program has been in place.

The Roanoke library is also adding a security guard to its staff because Umberger believes it will help patrons feel more comfortable.

"We want to make the location a good one for everyone," Umberger said.

Umberger said she would like to provide the teens with more multimedia activities, such as listening stations and laptop labs.

"We want to make it a cool place," she said.

Some branches have already taken steps to accommodate students.

The Williamson Road branch has rearranged computers to create separate stations for adults and students.

The Gainsboro branch created a teen club, Gainsboro Truth, whose members participate in programs that cover topics such as building character and respecting the library.

The main library is in the process of establishing a teen center, which should be in place by summer.

"We've always encouraged kids to come in," Umberger said. "When I look at it, we're just trying to improve our services."

http://www.roanoke.com/news/roanoke/wb/101753

Suport the Troops

Currently Virginia's senior senator, John Warner, is working on a non binding resolution to oppose the president's troops surge.

No matter what happens, the troops surge will take place. Warner's non binding resolution will simply tell the soldiers who are a part of the surge, we don't support you.

On the concept of a troop surge, Lindsey Grahm accurately said the following.

“I believe General Petraeus’s new strategy of sending more troops and more economic aid, and improving the political climate in Iraq is our best chance for success, and I support his new effort. To my colleagues who believe Iraq is a lost cause, I urge you to have the courage of your convictions and vote to stop sending more troops into Iraq by cutting off funding."

“A resolution declaring the new strategy a failure before it is implemented is the worst of all worlds. It is a vote of no confidence in General Petraeus, will empower our enemies, and be demoralizing to our own troops.”

http://www.senate.gov/~lgraham/index.cfm?mode=presspage&id=267917

If you also want to see the U.S. Senate support our troops in combat, please go to http://www.thenrscpledge.com/ sign up, and call your senators. No matter who you are, how old you are, or what your age, your voice and activism will help.