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“Six years have passed since I graduated from what I have been trained to call formal education. I was taught that education was about more than the books and grades, so we called our curriculum, our scheduled learning, “formal education”. It is all documented in those records we kept, just in case anyone accused us of not doing real school.
It took me most of the last six years to really understand what was done to me during those years of “home schooling“. Firstly, and most importantly, I was never allowed to stop learning. How cruel is that?”
Read the rest of From a Homeschool Victim Who Obviously Survived
P.S. Check the comment section below to see Olivia’s answer to some of the hate she’s received.
16 comments
I know exactly where this is coming from! I completely understand what she is trying to say here. I have made one comment on that particular site and you wouldn’t believe what it turned into! I do understand the frustration over some of these stories.
Some of these stories are absolutely horrific. Some of these kids were kept at home under the guise of home schooling simply so people could abuse them and not get caught. It is sickening to read the stories.
I can still see the girl with tape over her mouth when I first click on to your blog. When I clicked on to read the article it says it’s been remove.
Ker–I’m utterly confused. Your first 2 paragraphs seem to agree with the post. Your last two seem absolutely contradictory to the first. “I have taken things to an all time low”? I have no idea what that means. To combat falsely accused parents is NOT low. It is upright and just. Yes, there are abused children. Everywhere, in every walk, in every school situation, etc. The outpouring of stories I’m seeing, however, are couched in emotional manipulation. I have seen the deception unfold in people I know personally and it is shamefully wrong. If you don’t think we shouldn’t speak for those being falsely accused, you and I aren’t reading the same Scripture.
The image on this post, which it appears was not hotlinked but is actually being hosted on this site, is used without permission from the original copyright owners.
Which is why I changed it. I was not aware of the copyright violation.
Thank you.
I’m talking about using that kind of satire to make the point. I’m sure there are people who are falsely accused and certainly my hearts go out to them!
I am for homeschooling and I understand what she was saying here. Yes..you can home school and raise well adjusted and responsible kids and all the other things she has learned which are good! That is not my issue!
It’s the satire itself which in form is really sarcasm. Do you not see that? That is really not the best way to express it from a Christ Centered view!
Gotcha. I feel a bit differently depending on how/when sarcasm/satire is used.
I tend to agree and didn’t even see the other photo. left a bad taste in my mouth before I even read the rest of the article. I felt the same way..that Kelly was better than this type of “satire”. I used to read this blog a lot. Not sure what type of turn it has taken…
The Bible uses satire (Paul and Jesus both). Satire is a bit different than sheer sarcasm. Satire is the use of irony or ridicule to expose foolishness. It is laden with good intentions and is sometimes needful. The careful use of satire is very helpful in exposing foolishness or blind spots in thinking.
Could you give examples from scripture since you are going to claim that? I think he taught mostly on love and how we should walk like him and respond. I will share some scriptures later. Thanks!
Paul:
“You are already filled, you have already become rich, you have become kings without us; and indeed, I wish that you had become kings so that we also might reign with you. For, I think, God has exhibited us apostles last of all, as men condemned to death; because we have become a spectacle to the world, both to angels and to men. We are fools for Christ’s sake, but you are prudent in Christ; we are weak, but you are strong; you are distinguished, but we are without honor. To this present hour we are both hungry and thirsty, and are poorly clothed, and are roughly treated, and are homeless; and we toil, working with our own hands; when we are reviled, we bless; when we are persecuted, we endure; when we are slandered, we try to conciliate; we have become as the scum of the world, the dregs of all things, even until now. 1 Corinthians 4:8-13
Is Paul’s language ironic here? Absolutely. Was it hurtful? Intentionally so. Yet, because his intent was to lead the stubborn Corinthians to the truth, it can still be considered loving. In fact, Paul followed this passage with, “I do not write these things to shame you, but to admonish you as my beloved children.”
The Corinthians would not have considered Paul’s language intentionally cruel. Instead, they would have recognized Paul was using rhetoric to make a point. The Corinthians felt superior to Paul, casting judgment on him. So he calls them spiritual kings and says, ironically, that God considers His apostles “scum” and “dregs.”
The passage sounds sarcastic. It says one thing while meaning another in a way that makes the hearers look foolish. But Paul’s method was not meant as a personal insult. The goal was to grab the readers’ attention and correct a false way of thinking. In other words, Paul’s words are satirical, but not sarcastic.”
Read more: http://www.gotquestions.org/Bible-sarcasm.html#ixzz3HY8eRXII
Elijah:
“About noontime, Elijah began mocking them. ‘You’ll have to shout louder than that,’ he scoffed, ‘to catch the attention of your god! Perhaps he is talking to someone, or is out sitting on the toilet, or maybe he is away on a trip, or is asleep and needs to be wakened.’”
Jesus:
“Then began He [Jesus] to UPBRAID [Greek: oneidizo] the cities wherein most of His mighty words were done, because they repented not” (Matt. 11:20).
“Notice please, that Jesus “upbraided” the cities TRUTHFULLY, while He said men would “revile” His true followers, FALSELY. The same Greek word is used to describe both. No matter how stern or cutting our Lord’s words might have been, they always were TRUTHFUL! As for any sarcasm and anger that Jesus exhibited, your argument must be with Him and not me.” http://bible-truths.com/sarcasm.htm
Matthew 15:21-28 – Calls the Canaanite woman a “dog”, which was a terribly insulting and would prick the Canaanite woman directly – she was not a Jew, the first group Jesus is sent to.
Matthew 23 (the entire chapter) – first he says the Jewish leaders are hypocrites and the Jesus should do what they say, but not what they do. Then Jesus gives the 7 woes (full of sarcasm), then he calls the leaders “snakes, you brood of vipers.”
Mark 12:24 – Jesus asks the Sadducees “are you not in error because you do not know the Scriptures of the power of God?” These were leaders who prided themselves on knowing Scriptures, so this was a terribly sarcastic and insulting statement.
John 9 – the story of the blind man is FULL of sarcasm, but most from the blind man (and his family). Jesus last statement to the Pharisees is very sarcastic too – calling them blind.
Luke 13:31 – Jesus calls Herod a fox, but he uses the feminine of the Greek word, which means he is calling him a vixen.
I also hope you received my private message.
I think this was written in the same way Jesus dealt with the Pharisees, to show them how ridiculous they were being about different things. Jesus didn’t worry about offending them while bringing to light their wrong thinking! Thank you for your encouragement to those of us homeschooling.
Thank you Tammy. Yes, the Bible uses satire (Paul and Jesus both). Satire is a bit different than sheer sarcasm. Satire is the use of irony or ridicule to expose foolishness. It is laden with good intentions and is sometimes needful. The careful use of satire is very helpful in exposing foolishness or blind spots in thinking.
I am glad you posted this, Kelly. If this is a true statement (I missed the post everyone is talking about), then yes, it rests on her parents. I am wondering if, perhaps, though, her parents did out of the box projects and activities, and gave her credit for it? I am a former public school teacher, so I was kind of rigid with my oldest son’s studies, insisted on math tutoring, dual credit classes, etc. when I couldn’t rise to the challenge of teaching him. But, with this special needs brother, I have to catch him 24/7, whenever I can. And even then, I can no longer get him to sit and perform at school. However, I am honest with the many people around us and do many online activities and programs that trick him into learning. I know as a certified former special education teacher that matching the curriculum of a child to his or her abilities is what special education is all about (and really homeschooling, don’t you think?).
On the other hand, I know a family who claims they are homeschooling, and the girls are now 18 and haven’t really been educated at all. My son (same age) thought that was super cool…It is not honestly even legal, but he has had to learn that their methods are dishonest.
Olivia answers:
“I don’t have the time to respond to each and every comment, though some of them would be challenging and worth while discussions. This is my response to throwingoutbathwater’s post, it should answer any questions you have and allow you to see my intentions a bit more clearly. I wasn’t dissing your daughters who splice atoms. That’s a totally rad skill.
Hi, I’m Olivia. I wrote From A Homeschooler Who Obviously Survived. Let me start by saying thank you for shedding light on abuse. Period. The Gothard scandal primarily. Horrible things happened, things I wouldn’t know about if it weren’t for voices like yours and Chad Harris (a fb friend of mine). So, thank you for fighting that battle and shining a spotlight into a dark corner of the homeschooling world.
Secondly, the image. I had never read HomeschoolersAnonymous before my post went viral. So claiming that I stole the picture to stir up trouble, or put myself in the middle of the fray, is simply not true. I understand how you came to that conclusion, but it makes it no less false. I Google searched “homeschool victim”, clicked images and it popped up. As soon as I realized it was a HA picture it was replaced.
Thirdly, when you say “that is precisely what the author intended”, I did intend for the image to set context. But the context was this; I’d read a post from a homeschooler who was claiming to be abused because she had to wear hand me downs… The problem I had with her, the reason I wrote the post, wasn’t to make light of real abuse but to shame the people who are claiming to be abused with things that are not abuse. Does that make sense? To me, it’s like having to wait in line at the doctors office when you are really sick or have a broken arm when there are people there, taking up valuable attention with little cuts and scrapes.
I am not a homeschool blogger. I occasionally write. I don’t keep up with everything in the homeschool world because I work three jobs and have no time. But I am, or at least I do earnestly try, to be loving and sensitive. I have served meals at homeless women’s shelters, I am on the board of a crisis pregnancy center, I have adopted siblings who were abused before they came to us, I have friends who were physically and mentally abused. I know what abuse is and that is why I wrote the post, because I also know what it is not. The tone I was going for was more “stop whining about a paper cut, because there are others with broken bones” vs. “abuse is laughable, it doesn’t happen”.
Thank you, again, for fighting the good fight. If I had intended it as you portray I intended it, then I would applaud your post. I get it. But I’m not half as clever as you give me credit for and not half as half witted as a post with those intentions would insinuate.”
Oh, and P.S. I love Chick-Fil-A. Just sayin’.”