Bloody-mindedness

It seems to be more or less accepted among many home educating parents that their children would be traumatised by the admission to the home of a local authority officer likely to ask anything of either the parent or child about education. I find this bizarre, but I shall simply take this as read; this is how timid and nervous some home educated children apparently are. A sub-division of this class are children with some special educational need like Asperger's, with whom one can sympathise for feeling this way. Even here though, there are not infrequently huge anomalies in what is claimed. These same families who would be frightened out of their wits by somebody from the local authority seem often to be relaxed about discussing their lives in the presence of newspaper reporters and photographers. See the boy mentioned below, for instance;

http://www.herefordtimes.com/news/education/4848207.Education_at_home_a_growing_trend_in_Herefordshire/


On one of the lists lately, a mother has received a questionnaire through the post from her local authority and is determined not to answer any of the questions, even though she tells us that the local authority already know the answers. This surely is sheer bloody-mindedness! Other parents commenting on the list are in agreement with this approach. Indeed, the mother whose child features in the newspaper cited above suggests that not only should the questions not be answered, but that the questionnaire itself should be covered with animal excrement before being returned to the local authority.

I find this attitude wholly perplexing. Even accepting that one's child is so unused to human company that meeting an unknown adult would precipitate a psychological crisis, what possible harm could be inflicted upon the child by filling out a questionnaire? It is in cases like this that one really sees the true feelings of some of these parents; feelings which have little to do with protecting vulnerable children but are rather indicative of a burning and visceral hatred of teachers, schools and local authorities.