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    ButICouldn'tFindAWomanForThisPanelDiscussionMarina Galperina
    6/28/16 1:50pm

    I think all children should have a right to have the opportunity to see other adults during there day. Unregulated homeschooling just leaves children vulnerable to abusive parents.

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      caekislove-caekingitupButICouldn'tFindAWomanForThisPanelDiscussion
      6/28/16 1:53pm

      Homeschooling is abuse. There’s absolutely no justifiable excuse for denying your kid an education.

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      NooYawkButICouldn'tFindAWomanForThisPanelDiscussion
      6/28/16 1:57pm

      Homeschooling is a form of abuse itself. Their kids are isolated, socially inept and their “education” is questionable at best.

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    Pink SkullMarina Galperina
    6/28/16 1:44pm

    I’m still convinced half of the reason Florida is our go to state to mock is because there isn’t even hope in Texas ever being normal.

    Ever.

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      TRUMP DELENDUS EST (fka Chatham Harrison)Pink Skull
      6/28/16 1:44pm

      Florida is a comedy. Texas is a tragedy.

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      bogart_83Pink Skull
      6/28/16 1:45pm

      Nope. It’s alligators.

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    DolemiteMarina Galperina
    6/28/16 1:48pm

    “almost all of the McIntyres are actually grown”. So which colleges did they get into?

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      ad infinitumDolemite
      6/28/16 1:50pm

      Liberty? Bob Jones?

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      caekislove-caekingitupDolemite
      6/28/16 1:51pm

      I was gonna make an Texas A&M joke but nothing worked so imagine that I posted a super funny joke dissing A&M here ok?

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    TRUMP DELENDUS EST (fka Chatham Harrison)Marina Galperina
    6/28/16 1:48pm

    The only way this argument makes any sense is if receiving an education was explicitly against the tenets of their faith. States have police power, for God’s sake. If the citizens of a state think it’s in their best interests to require that children be educated, they have every right to make that decision.

    Religious freedom is meant to keep you from being forced to violate your convictions, not to keep you from following the law if you don’t feel like it, or don’t think it’s necessary. The fact that this case took more than a day of a court’s time is an embarrassment.

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      NooYawkTRUMP DELENDUS EST (fka Chatham Harrison)
      6/28/16 1:53pm

      I agree, Freedom of religion is out of control. And not just Christians I think many religions are pushing the limits of what freedom of religion means. People are joining organizations, even the military but skirting regulations because they declared freedom of religion.

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      caekislove-caekingitupTRUMP DELENDUS EST (fka Chatham Harrison)
      6/28/16 1:57pm

      Religious freedom is meant to keep you from being forced to violate your convictions, not to keep you from doing things if you don’t feel like it

      I’m trying really hard, but I can’t see that as anything other than a distinction without a difference. People choose their religion and whatever dogmas ride along with that religion, right?

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    Sid and FinancyMarina Galperina
    6/28/16 1:44pm

    Texas has the biggest population of homeschooled kids than any other state—about 300,000, according to the Texas Home School Coalition

    That’s gonna be a hell of a competitive GOP gubernatorial primary in 2038.

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      bellalunaSid and Financy
      6/28/16 1:47pm

      Kind of makes the picture just a little more clear, doesn’t it? No wonder that state’s such a mess, from top to bottom.

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      sour duckSid and Financy
      6/28/16 1:52pm

      Is that when the Rapture is?

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    BobbySeriousMarina Galperina
    6/28/16 1:45pm

    And now you know why they scream “leave it to the states” on things like education.

    Modern conservatism is a cult, and the foundation of any cult is its ability to control the minds of their followers 24 hours a day, 365 days a year. The truth can never be allowed into that bubble, or the whole thing will crumble.

    Right wing parents and churches take care of the brainwashing in the early years, and they have built their own right wing media complex to continue the indoctrination through adult life. That leaves public schools, the one place they can’t keep their cult kids from hearing the truth.

    Enter the fight for home schooling, school vouchers & privatization, states rights to create their own “curriculum”, etc...

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      lwleanderBobbySerious
      6/28/16 2:01pm

      Public schools just do almost as good a job at indoctrination... especially in states like Texas. Let’s not pretend like the way we have public schools set up now is some sort of solution to any of this.

      I’m not defending this horrendous situation and these terrible parents who are forcing their children to grow into morons and bigots, but let’s just aim larger.

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      MizJenkinsBobbySerious
      6/28/16 2:04pm

      YES. That is exactly right.

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    PredatrixMarina Galperina
    6/28/16 1:51pm

    What do you imagine these children are named? I’ll go first.

    Bodean, Enos, #3, Jessie, and Fleatrice

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      PredatrixPredatrix
      6/28/16 2:04pm

      Never forget.

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      AlmostThere2Predatrix
      6/28/16 2:08pm

      two others are Walker and Texas Ranger.

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    MiniatureamericanflagsforothersMarina Galperina
    6/28/16 1:44pm

    Antonin goddamn Scalia:

    “It is a permissible reading of the [free exercise clause]...to say that if prohibiting the exercise of religion is not the object of the [law] but merely the incidental effect of a generally applicable and otherwise valid provision, the First Amendment has not been offended.... To make an individual’s obligation to obey such a law contingent upon the law’s coincidence with his religious beliefs, except where the State’s interest is “compelling”–permitting him, by virtue of his beliefs, “to become a law unto himself,”–contradicts both constitutional tradition and common sense. To adopt a true “compelling interest” requirement for laws that affect religious practice would lead towards anarchy.”

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      Yog-Sothoth is the GateMiniatureamericanflagsforothers
      6/28/16 1:46pm

      And yet, Hobby Lobby

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      MiniatureamericanflagsforothersYog-Sothoth is the Gate
      6/28/16 2:18pm

      That was RFRA, not the First Amendment.

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    Doofenschmirtz, Inc.Marina Galperina
    6/28/16 1:55pm

    Crap like this is why home schooling should either be standardized for all states at the federal level or not be allowed unless there are extremely exceptional circumstances.

    You should have to prove that your kid can’t go to regular school because of medical reasons or school violence/bullying. And if the kid can’t pass a state-administered aptitude test, the right to home school should be revoked because obviously the kid is not learning.

    If you’re worried about your kid’s religious education, you can educate them all you want during the weekends.

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      slapdDoofenschmirtz, Inc.
      6/28/16 2:06pm

      If you have the time to “home school” your kids, you’d damn well better have the time to pass a test granting you permission to home school.

      This should be a no brainer law for all states regardless of religion. Educating the young in our country is the only way ensure their place in the world.

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      OurDaisyDoofenschmirtz, Inc.
      6/28/16 2:22pm

      And the parents should have to prove that they are fully capable of following a general curriculum that meets specific requirements - basic math, English, science, etc...and that their kids will be engaged in some type of appropriate enrichment activity and participate in group activities with other kids. If parents cannot read or do math well enough to pass a basic aptitude test, then they should not be the ones doing the teaching. Homeschool is a blessing for some kids but it often seems more like a way to keep kids ignorant and pliable.

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    Bill BaldwinMarina Galperina
    6/28/16 2:41pm

    Wow to all the commenters making unsupported statements that homeschooling is ineffective in the vast majority of cases. What’s your basis for making this claim? A combination of confirmation bias and selection bias in response to articles like this one? How many homeschooled kids do you actually know? Maybe homeschooling isn’t the answer for most people. (Anecdotally, I’ve seen it work very well, but I don’t know how statistically common that is. Unlike the commenters here, I also KNOW that I don’t know.) Clearly it would be nice to have SOME alternative to the “education” that produced the kinds of comments I’m reading here.

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      Chamomiles DavisBill Baldwin
      6/28/16 3:09pm

      All of us were home-schooled.

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      2SquaredBill Baldwin
      6/28/16 5:23pm

      Because I was homeschooled. If I didn’t love learning, I would be screwed. I begged my parents to allow me to attend a habitual high school and when they finally relented, studied my ass off because I was afraid I was going to be behind (spoiler: I wasn’t and I excelled). But I am worried about my brothers who aren’t as studious as myself. They don’t seem to know concepts that I knew at their ages (one is high school age and the other is 19). It freaks me out because the oldest one seems to have no ambition outside of working part-time and playing video games.

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