Some folks believe that they can give their kids a better education than a dedicated school. In a few cases, that might even be true but, unfortunately, many families just don’t want their children to be taught that the ridiculous things they believe are actually false.

A concerned sibling asked the internet if she should contact child protective services for her sister who was being homeschooled by her conspiracy-prone parents. We reached out to the person who made the post via private message and will update the article when they get back to us.

People who believe conspiracy theories can’t stand their kids being taught anything different

Image credits: Getty Images / Unsplash (not the actual photo)

So one netizen considered calling CPS when she realized her homeschooled 9YO sister couldn’t read

Image credits:  Engin Akyurt / Pexels (not the actual photo)

Image credits: MART PRODUCTION / Pexels (not the actual photo)

Image credits: Evamooo

Homeschooling is a very broad concept

Depending on where you live, homeschooling might be outright banned or fairly normal. For example, in the US, it is relatively common, while in Germany and France it’s heavily restricted, often for the reasons this woman is concerned about. In general, homeschooling tends to fall into two camps, folks with the resources to prefer private, dedicated tutors for their kids or people who have religious “reasons” to be opposed to schooling.

As in this story, COVID did end up “pushing” a lot of parents to homeschool their children, in one way or another. In many cases, it was simply parents stepping in to assist when education moved to a more remote learning environment. However, there was an unfortunately large number of folks who saw COVID as a time to begin questioning everything from basic science to the shape of the planet.

The result is that it can be hard to discuss the effectiveness of homeschooling, because the results and conditions vary so greatly. Researchers have noted that socioeconomic status plays a massive role in educational outcomes, as a family that can hire professionals at home is, generally, going to have a better educated chance than a non-college educated person attempting to teach a child after work.

Existing studies suggest that overall, there are often not that major educational differences between traditional schooling and homeschooled children. However, at the same time, these researchers also suggest that not drawing too far-reaching conclusions about this as the data has a number of issues.

It’s clear that this 9-year-old is already behind her peers

Image credits: Pavel Danilyuk / pexels (not the actual photo)

However, no matter how you spin it, a nine year old should probably be able to read if she is being “educated” in any way. Setting aside the conspiracy theories, which are their own massive can of worms, the inability to read is the literal opposite of any sort of education. Just from this fact alone, you could surmise that the parents aren’t homeschooling her to make sure she gets the “right” education, they are homeschooling her to ensure she doesn’t have the tools to get any education.

No matter what the parent’s “true” motivations, this is setting their daughter back horribly and her sister is absolutely right to consider calling child protective services. Without the ability to read, she literally can’t just learn other things, it’s such a core skill for anything. Illiteracy isn’t an option in the 21st century.

Unless steps are taken, this girl will be stuck at the same, roughly first grade level into her teens, which will have far-reaching effects on her future. While education doesn’t exist just to prepare people for the workforce, there aren’t a lot of jobs one can do and climb with that don’t require the ability to read. The truth is, while a parent can often explain a handful of concepts, covering any amount of curriculum takes a lot more resources than a delusional adult normally has.

Unfortunately, as often with conspiracy theorists, these folks are convinced they are right but are simultaneously so shaky in their beliefs that even exposure to the official “lies” is enough to sway anyone. They are free to believe whatever delusions they would like to entertain, but it can’t be at the cost of their kid’s future.

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