Pearl Advice Leads to Death--The Reporter Answered Me

wow, I hadn't seen that story. I'm sick to my stomach.... so incredibly sad....

Originally Posted by Mommyo6

Could you get her to promise NOT to mix home schooling up in this? On the editor of the old school house blog she states that the reporter tried to ask her if abuse was common in homeschool families and we know how reporters LOVE to find bad press about us HSers.

That's a bit of a blanket statement. I've been a journalist for eight years, and the reporters in my department bend over backwards to try to remain objective.

[QuiltinGramma]

When I wrote to Mandy Locke last time, I expressed the concerns here that many were concerned that homeschoolers would be typecast as the ones doing the abuse of children.

Originally Posted by Mommyo6

Could you get her to promise NOT to mix home schooling up in this? On the editor of the old school house blog she states that the reporter tried to ask her if abuse was common in homeschool families and we know how reporters LOVE to find bad press about us HSers.

I think.....if this was Mandy....... that she is probing the people she talks to. She is searching for answers and if a good reporter can catch a person contradicting themselves .... while they're trying to protect those who are accused of wrongdoing .... all the better. Lawyers, police detectives...all do this. By asking enough questions and rewording the same question, the guilty ones are exposed.

Why do I say this when I am hoping that many would step forward and volunteer stories, is because I want you to know ahead of time that it is possible that she would ask some hard questions....hard emotionally since those thoughts/ways are in the past and probing questions to find out the whys and the how comes. I don't see that question as a bad question to ask homeschooler because now it gives you a chance to say 'no' or 'I certainly hope not' because we don't know. It's like going to 1 Christian and asking them if all Christians believe in _______. And there again.....I would have to answer 'I don't know, but I do know that I do/do not believe that and I know my other friends who are Christians do/do not believe this.' There is not one answer of 'yes' or 'no' that can answer that question. Each homeschool family has to answer it for themselves. If we would give a blanket 'no' statement to that question, we would be doing the homeschool community a disservice. The truth needs to come out and homeschooling is probably going to be in the news. Could the abuse be higher with homeschoolers? It's possible especially if they follow Pearl's teachings. Why? Because there is more opportunity for it to happen when the parent and child are together all the time. But that doesn't mean though that abuse will happen. We know it doesn't have to be the case....you girls are proof of that with GDB and should you talk to the reporter and you are asked that question, don't be afraid of it...don't get angry at the question or think the reporter is 'out' to get the homeschoolers. It is a natural question to ask and we need to give them the right answer. There is just as much (and more) happening outside the homeschool system, but homeschooling is now effected because of that woman. Our job is to educate and to tell the truth.

Ask Crystal what she talked about with the reporter and what questions she was asked. Maybe she can give some insight into this.

Sanveann,
I am glad you try to remain objective and so do your colleagues. but my family has been in the press quite a bit , due to my children's accomplishments (national acadamic champions) and our chosen professions and our experience with articles that refer to our homeschooling have not been positive. Our words have been so skewed, misquoted and turned around to make us look silly off base. This is based on our personal experince however and I know it is not good to judge only on ones own experince so perhaps I am being too judgemental. In general I have a hard time as looking at reporters as truly objective. I belive that is what the profession was intended to be but it is not what I see or hear when I pick up the paper or turn on the news. I don't think they would necessarly be personally against homeschooig...just always looking for a sensational angle.

[TulipMama]

I just want to point out that the journalist did not say anything negative about homeschooling or try to link the abuse to homeschooling.