I'm currently working on a project that I would really appreciate some help with.
I'm looking to collect people's opinions about how the badman review and it's aftermath affected them (and their families too).
A paragraph or two is fine, as is more than a couple of paragraphs if you find it flows once you start writing!
Anonymous or named both fine.
If you're up for doing this, please email your opinions to me at freedomined@gmail.com
thank you :D
Friday, 13 August 2010
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Thank you SO much to everyone who has taken the time to respond! I'd really love to gather as many thoughts/opinions as possible, so please, keep them coming :)
ReplyDeleteHi Tech,
ReplyDeleteWould you mind if I posted about this on Other(wise) Inclined? Happy to help spread the word while I compose my paragraph :)
Regards,
Saz
That would be fantastic! Thank you :)
ReplyDeleteMy home educated three are adults aged 25-30 now - and we were travelling around the world at the time. So I suppose that the only effect Badman's rubbish report had on me was to raise my blood-pressure coinsiderably, both during and after!
ReplyDeleteI say 'rubbish report', because I have scientific training and anyone who submitted research work of such poor quality would be an automatic 'fail' - in first year physics (school-level, not university).
Good luck with the project!
I've emailed you. I don't think I'll ever recover. My health has deteriorated to the point that I'm now registered disabled. I suffer from inflammatory arhthritis. The sustained, unrelenting stress of the whole thing has caused my health to dramatically decline.
ReplyDelete...just checking before I do the post...is it OK to include the email addy? It's an open forum so will be searchable by Google etc.
ReplyDeleteyeah that's fine, i set it up just for this and will shut down when I'm done :) Thanks
ReplyDeleteits made our whole family live in a certain amount of fear - large families tend to attract negative attention and are more likely to be reported to SS - it seems now home edder = suspected abuser and altho the report has apparently died its left all of us edgy when dealing with "authority" because mud sticks doesnt it xxx the stress has definately affected us yes - but we have all become more determined and more focused knowing WE ARE DOING THE RIGHT THING by our kids xxxx
ReplyDeletemum of 7 (nottm)
I find that home eders tend to be more closely monitored by GPs, hospitals and the medical services, all of which cross question myself and my son about his education and our reasons to home ed and more and more routine appointments are being changed to home visits .... I am beginning to feel very paranoid and checked up on.
ReplyDeleteThanks you guys :)
ReplyDeleteAny more for any more?
It made me feel guilty of a crime I have never committed. Of something I could NEVER commit.
ReplyDeleteBeing labelled as a potential abuser of my own child , a child I love and cherish with every ounce of my being, was probably THE most damaging thing that has ever happened to me.
The continual fight to prove the statisitics were wrong. The continual day to day dealings with the latest media reports based on the (totally innacurate)Badman Review.That knot in my stomach as I read the lies again ..and again.
TV, radio and newpaper reports labelling me and other HE families as more likely abusers of our children, en mass! Of need surveillance CRB checks..etc... The scapegoating and general portraying of us as religious freaks or weirdos, who (apparently) lock our children away from society and far worse! It all had a major detrimental affect on my mental, emotional and physical wellbeing .It also affected our settled and happy HE routine.
I'm not sure I have recovered even now, as the anger and hurt and total disbelief is still there.
It affected my young daughter too, as she questioned why I was up at all hours writing to Lords and MP's? Why mummy was despairing when listening to Parliament TV? Why reading a newspaper article made me cry? Why the mere mention of Badman and Balls made me angry or upset? Why she might HAVE to go back to school when it made her so unhappy and when she was learning so much more at home?... Why....? Why?
....and still I ask "Why"?
It was only our second year of home ed. It was... souring, if you know what I mean.
ReplyDeleteMy degree is in Library and Information and I spent three years in the NHS in Clinical Audit, writing and carrying out Audits and consultations, and I could have organised it better with both eyes shut. It had me tearing my hair out to be honest.
We're lucky (so far) as we have great working relationships with our GP, HV, and LA - it seems to be a good area, geographically.
But yeah, it's made me.. jumpy. More defensive. Even less likely to take the kids to A&E unless the limb is totally severed.
Just came back here cos of the link on twitter and, you know what, I feel quite sick again :( Clearly not over it yet...
ReplyDeleteOK I am gonna leave my opinion here coz I like the fact that it's 'out there' & visible.
ReplyDelete& THAT IS just one direct effect of the Bad Man report. I am now very much more defiant in the face of the prejudice & bulls***!
Although I too, feel constantly paranoid and defensive after this attack, it's made me see so many things I'd never perceived before about how the State manipulates & demeans the masses in order to retain control & I feel the need to let them (& the world) know that I will not just lie down & take their cr*p!! (see my post on FB re: Jobcentre & Lone Parent Advisers & u will see that this defiance reaches beyond just the sphere of HE)
I'll no longer suffer the stupid & unthinking comments of either non-HE or HE ppl when they espouse rubbish such as 'nothing to hide, nothing to fear' but my militant stance may not always be a good thing & I sometimes rue the fact that I cannot be more tolerant & diplomatic when dealing with such attitudes.
I've become motivated into political thinking & action where before I was uninterested & apathetic. I've chosen a political 'side' (I now consider my views to be 'Libertarian' & am taking positive steps toward making my lifestyle catch up with my ideals)
I frequently feel fatigued by it all, sick of having to explain it yet again to those who don't know why I have changed so much in the last year. I'm quite sure that many of my friends now view me as a bit of a one track bore, always spouting on about politics & freedom & the unseen but ever advancing strong arm of State control.
I spend too much time online checking out other HEers posts so that I am abreast of any changes or challenges to our liberty & lifestyle. This can be detrimental to my relationship with my children as it equates to less time spent on more wholesome & soul fulfilling activities but I feel justified in doing so as I do not want to be caught out if the s*** ever re-hits the same fan! (I haven't forgotten how I panicked when I first realised that the Badman fiasco had been going on a while without my having knowledge of it & that some other HE familes had already made plans to flee the country)
It has had a negative effect on my relationship with my BF from time to time too, causing rows when I was judged as being too obsessed, too militant, too paranoid, My kids have also suffered from me being snappy & overtired particularly when I have had to put in late hours writing blogs, letters to Mp's & re-runs of Lords talking rubbish. (I can totally relate to what Su says in her comment- weeping & frustration also occured many times in my home)...
...However there's several things I can thank the Bad Man & his Balls for:
ReplyDeleteIf they hadn't attempted their dirty campaign against us I wouldn't have turned into this person I now am & I like the new me in many ways. I am wiser, stronger & more open to making social connections because of it.
I have made so many new friends along the way, online & in real life. I feel proud to have been part of the movemement to prevent the HE parts of the Bill being successful & I am so grateful to have met so many intelligent, spirited & caring individuals along the way. especially you Tech, you (& a few others) have been particularly inspirational to me & I have great respect for your opinions!
We now have a HE group in our area which I am happy to be part of, whereas previously I was more happy just getting on with it alone.
I feel that the networks created by the Bad Man threat are a good thing. I may not know or speak to many of the HEers i am FB friends with but it's good that we are connected & have a visible presence online, which brings me full circle to where I started... PUBLIC DEFIANCE IS IN MY OPINION THE BEST THING TO COME FROM THIS ATTEMPT AT BULLYING BY THE STATE!!!
OK I reckon that's enough from me (although trust me I could rant forever on this subject now I've started, so just let me know if you want any more) xx
Until I read these comments I considered that I hadn't been affected, but they set me thinking. Upon reflection I think that all aware home edders have been affected in some way or other.
ReplyDeleteI followed the Badman and Balls tactics with growing horror. I had long realised that all our governments are dishonest and have a hidden agenda, but hadn't realised just how dishonest they can be.
My initial slight detachment was because my own home edded children are grown up, and my grandchildren are not yet school age. Although, they won't (DV) be going to school, I'm glad to say
Like your other posters, I have become more wary of HVs and Doctors where the children are concerned. I have also grown to distrust some groups of home educators because some seemed to have a different focus from those of us who were fighting tooth and nail to protect our freedom to bring our children up in the way we think best.
Sorry, bit disjointed but am baby-watching while my youngest writes up her chemistry PhD.
Evita
Have to asked Kathleen on Education Everywhere as she was doing a similar thing, collecting stories about children's bad experiences at school. She runs a helpline for HErs and may have heard stories, including mine, which may or may not be willing to share.
ReplyDeleteWe're in Northern Ireland, but when I and other HErs met with MLAs/MPs we were told that what happens in England is very likely to affect us and typically any changes there will be similar to changes here. Our education minister is against HE and all for a Badman style way. We know because she wrote back to our MLAs/MPs saying so.
ReplyDeleteSo it has effected us in NI and it has effected me personally. It's quite long story and I don't have time now, but I'm happy to share. Just remind me in couple of weeks if I haven't got back to you on facebook or my blog http://homewartshouse.blogspot.com
I understand if you only want English stories.
* I was meant to say have asked Kathleen in my above post. Sorry I'm stressed and tired.
ReplyDelete