Liberal Politician Calls for Even Harsher Penalities of Restrictive Homeschooling Laws
The Swedish liberal party politician Lotta Edholm called for even harsher penalties for homeschooling and for a change to the country’s social services law so that the government can take children away from home-schooling families more easily by allowing social workers to do so.
Edholm then wrote on her blog: “Today I write with Ann-Katrin Aslund on Aftonbladet’s debate page that the social services law should be amended so that social services are able to intervene when children are kept away from school by their parents—often for religious or ideological reasons.” The call for the change comes amidst already stringent penalties in Sweden for home schooling. The Home School Legal Defense Association and Alliance Defense Fund have applied to the European Court of Human Rights on behalf of one family whose child was abducted by the government in 2009 and have filed a brief in a Swedish appellate court on behalf of another family fined an amount equivalent to $26,000 U.S.. “The right of parents to choose the kind of education their children receive is a fundamental human right recognized in international legal documents including the Universal Declaration of Human Rights,” said HSLDA attorney Michael Donnelly. “Parents have the right and authority to make decisions regarding their children’s education without government interference,” said ADF Legal Counsel Roger Kiska. “Swedish policy on home education is at odds with recognized international legal standards that uphold the right of parents to direct the education of their children.” Sources: We thank LifeSiteNews for reporting. www.aftonbladet.se (Jan. 10) http://lottaedholm.wordpress.com More on the Swedish homoschooling restriction (video and article):http://www.cbn.com/cbnnews/world/2012/April/Swedish-Home-Schoolers-Flee-Parental-Inquisition/