Who is in Charge: The Country or the United Nations?: About Parent’s Rights, Children’s Rights, State's Rights, Education & Homeschooling

I have been reading about the homeschooling family in Belgium who is under fire. It seems that the United Nations “Convention on the Rights of the Child” is being interpreted to have implications on the ability for a family to homeschool (even if a country has a law making it clear that homeschooling is legal in that country). The UN Convention seems to override any previous laws that the country may have had.

There is a problem when a country’s own laws conflict with what the United Nations wants. Frankly I am getting a little confused as the last I knew, each country had a right to make their own laws and rules, and within the United States of America each state has a right to make laws in certain areas (that is what the Civil War was about--state's rights!). It seems that I am wrong in my assumption that as American citizens our rights are guaranteed to be under the jurisdiction of our own country's lawmakers, as the United Nations seems to be able to take over, so long as a county signs an agreement such as the “Convention on the Rights of the Child”.

I read the “Convention on the Rights of the Child” and from what I see homeschooling is not mentioned as illegal. There are rights which imply that in order for a child to get ‘educated’ in the way the U.N. sees fit that a country would have to provide free schooling that covers certain topic areas.

This whole issue is really ticking me off. It is enough to keep on top of my own state’s homeschooling legal information let alone the United States Federal laws and then still, to understand what is going on with homeschooling in Belgium or any other foreign county. However if the United Nations is going to try to exert something like this on the United States then I guess it is my duty to be aware of this situation in Belgium, isn't it? I guess I need to open my mind and my eyes and my ears and spend some time figuring this out. If you are a homeschooler you should tune in to this. If you are a parent or a citizen of the United States I feel you should watch and learn from what is happening in Belgium and Switzerland so you can see the implications of America's involvement with the United Nations.

Note: Not being on top of everything is not always about a person being apathetic. The reality is that we homeschooling parents are busy people, busy working (for no pay) to educate our children as well as doing other things such as being our own advocates and activists in our own communities and supporting other homeschoolers by leading and/or attending homeschool support groups, or by participating in online chat lists. Sometimes we are so busy in our own little lives and in our small communities that we just don’t follow all the world news.

So about two weeks ago I sat down to investigate this UN issue. My head was and still is spinning. I began this blog entry back then, and after thinking about it and reading more about the situation, I am ready today to share my thoughts with you.

The issue is so large (and goes way beyond homeschooling) that I can't quite believe it is happening.

For more info, you can read the full text of this story:
Crackdown on Homeschoolers: It’s the UN Wot Done It Here are some quotes that I selected from that story that summarize what is happening. The author of the story is a homeschooling father, who works as an editor of the Brussels Journal, and this is about his own family. Their family's story made my head spin.

Homeschooling is a constitutional right in Belgium.

We have homeschooled four of our five children through high school. Only the youngest is still being homeschooled because the others are already at university

…the Belgian police and judiciary are conducting an “inquiry” into our homeschooling to see whether we “rear our children along the lines of the United Nations Convention on Children’s Rights.”

…compared to neighbouring countries, Belgium was very tolerant of homeschoolers. In 2003, however, the Flemish regional parliament decreed that all homeschoolers are obliged to sign a document in which they promise to rear their children along the lines of the UN Convention. The latter undermines the authority of parents and transfers it to the state.

The document the homeschoolers are made to sign also states that government inspectors decide whether families comply with the UN’s ideology. Furthermore, it contains a clause in which the homeschooling parents agree to send their child to an official government recognized school if the inspectors report negatively about them twice.

We refused to sign this document. Not only do we object to the imposed UN ideology, but we would never put our signature under a document that forces us to send our children to government controlled schools simply because two bureaucrats decide on the basis of arbitrary criteria that we are not in compliance with the imposed philosophy.

Since our case has also been reported in the Belgian newspapers many families have responded with tales of their own. It is becoming clear that the decree of 2003 is being enforced with uncharacteristic speed and rigidity.

If the Belgian authorities decide to prosecute us we think we can win in court – at least if the court bases its verdict on the Belgian Constitution.

There is, unfortunately, always the possibility that activist judges will rule that the UN Convention overrules the Belgian Constitution. If this is the case, the consequences are far-reaching. Not only for us. In effect it would mean that the laws, and even the Constitution, of our lands are no longer decided by the people of the land, but by the UN, i.e. the international club of states that includes members such as North Korea, China, Cuba, Zimbabwe, Iran,...

The above story then includes a reference to a similar struggle going on in Switzerland with the United Nations.

The above story also discusses a situation in Germany where the law made by Hitler still is in effect: that homeschooling is illegal.

The article then goes on to try to discuss parent’s rights versus state’s rights. The opinion is that the United Nations is trying to transfer the child to be the responsibiltiy to the state not to the parent. This is dangerous territory, it seems to me.

Here is more information:

Brussels Journal Editor Threatened with Prosecution over Homeschooling

Here is an article about Germany where homeschooling is still illegal since Hitler made it illegal, which touches upon parent’s rights and specifically the clash between a family’s religious convictions to homeschool which clashes with German law.

Hitler’s Ghost Haunts German Parents

I am sure that there are many Internet articles and blog entries about this family, if you want more information or the most current information, I suggest that you do an Internet website or blog site search. If you have blogged about this topic pleaes feel free to share a link to your blog in my comments section.

UNICEF supports the UN’s ‘Convention on the Rights of the Child’. Below is a quote from the UNICEF site which explains in their words, what I have said, that this UN agreement will take over for state laws and country’s laws. I have bolded and colored the section that you really must see, it is a key statement.

"The Convention on the Rights of the Child is the first legally binding international instrument to incorporate the full range of human rights—civil, cultural, economic, political and social rights. In 1989, world leaders decided that children needed a special convention just for them because people under 18 years old often need special care and protection that adults do not. The leaders also wanted to make sure that the world recognized that children have human rights too.
The Convention sets out these rights in 54 articles and two Optional Protocols. It spells out the basic human rights that children everywhere have: the right to survival; to develop to the fullest; to protection from harmful influences, abuse and exploitation; and to participate fully in family, cultural and social life. The four core principles of the Convention are non-discrimination; devotion to the best interests of the child; the right to life, survival and development; and respect for the views of the child. Every right spelled out in the Convention is inherent to the human dignity and harmonious development of every child. The Convention protects children's rights by setting standards in health care; education; and legal, civil and social services.
By agreeing to undertake the obligations of the Convention (by ratifying or acceding to it), national governments have committed themselves to protecting and ensuring children's rights and they have agreed to hold themselves accountable for this commitment before the international community. States parties to the Convention are obliged to develop and undertake all actions and policies in the light of the best interests of the child.

"

I feel like Big Brother is coming but instead of him being a part of our Federal Government he is from the future World Government and comes under the name of the United Nations.

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