Reviewing Home Education: The Badman Song

[voxpopification]

Quite how you can say that home education has got 'nothing to do' with tragic abuse cases 'in any way' is frankly, a cynical cop out. It smacks of HE-UK rhetoric and the type of group think found within religious cults.

As a 'community' home educators were/are directly responsible for monitoring child safety within their own area of expertise.

[ThePhantomCorrector]

@voxpopification And I say it has nothing to do with those cases because, quite honestly, it has nothing to do with those cases. Home education is a philosophy and way of life which is about letting children learn in a way other than through mainstream schooling.

The abuse cases were incidents where people obviously didn't care about their children, and instead pandered to their own faith, perversions, or mental defections.

[voxpopification]

It's easy to see how Angela Gordon and Junaid Abu Hamza managed to remove Kyrah Isaq from her school and fatally abuse her.

[ThePhantomCorrector]

@voxpopification They managed to abuse her while she was at school as well, and no-one noticed.

[voxpopification]

EO and HE-UK has provided ready written education philosophies to help people they've never met remove their children from school. That's a practice that's gone on for years, they've never attended any support meetings, activities, gatherings or sought face to face meetings with local contacts.

It doesn't stop there, there is a readily available bank of advice and tactics available online so as LAs don't get to see children removed from school for a very long time.

[ThePhantomCorrector]

@voxpopification It's true that home educators often avoid LAs. Perhaps home educators wouldn't need to hide from LAs if LAs themselves weren't so anti-home ed. Their entire philosophy is about not accepting any kind of education other than the standard school one, and trying to turn home education into a kind of "school-at-home" which is a bad environment for many children who want to learn about the world in their own time, and their own way.

[voxpopification]

There's also the Eunice Spry case where she tortured her foster children..they were home educated too.

And the tragic Kyrah Isaq case...another 'home educating' parent that abused her child, unfortunately the victim didn't survive the ordeal.

[voxpopification]

Here's the home ed community's dirty secret. The Badman review was justified because of an abuse incident that occured within Education Otherwise.

Martin Smith was convicted on 11 counts of rape, attempted rape indecency with a child and serious sexual assult. His partner Lianne, killed their two young children as a consequence. She was a local co ordinator for Education Otherwise and proffesionaly involved with Ofsted.

[ThePhantomCorrector]

@voxpopification These are all terrible things, but home education has nothing to do with these in any way.

Without the help of home education, so many of the same sort of atrocities are committed. In fact, I do remember a certain story about a woman who, at a government funded nursery, used her position to make child pornography.

We shouldn't all have to be lumped in with people like that just because they've found their way into a community we belong to.

[voxpopification]

@ThePhantomCorrector

Although the use of CRB disclosure was and is pretty much manditory for those who work with children and vulnerable members of the public, EO didn't and doesn't insist upon local contacts being cleared.

Martin Smith was not the first abuser that had been involved with EO.

[ThePhantomCorrector]

@voxpopification Then perhaps EO is a corrupt organisation, and the home educators who love and care for their children enough to take them away from somewhere they're unhappy against the opinion of so many powerful people shouldn't affiliate themselves with them any more.

[katpat23]

Alas, Mr Badman has lost his position at BECTA, a now-defunct Government quango, and is soliciting for speaking engagements amongst erstwhile pursuits at UNICEF, the Royal Horticultural Society and the Institute of Education in London. That doesn't stop me from having a good ol' giggle at this piece of (hopefully) nostalgia of the dark old days when the "elective" in home education seemed at risk. Long may it continue!

[ThePhantomCorrector]

Looking back on this now; hah, I was so full of righteous indignation at the time of the badman thing.

[pikachuchubbychops]

NOT YOUR CHOICE BLOODY BADMAN

[fablab43]

Mr. Badman hit he dislike button 5 times. LOL XD

[Crazychickbabii]

Graham Badman wouldn't of been able to stop Home education if he had tried to! There are way to many parents that are now taking their children out of school; it's their children so it's their choice to do what's best for them. They only want to be in control of everything; they can't. Parents have the right to protect their children; if that means taking them out of school and teaching them at home - let them! After all.. who'd want to be bullied in a shit hole called a school?

[Boincman]

I like it when his eyes go all rectangular!

[HeHereIs]

FABULOUS!  Home -ed was gr8t for our son who is just the best!

[MarkandJamiePARODYS]

HEF-FES ftw <3

[lacey5842]

My partner and I have today handed in, to our Son's Head Teacher, his letter for de-registration from the school and his last day is Friday. I just want you to know that, although we are very new to HE we stand firmly behind all HE's in their Campaign against Government interference!

Any advice that anyone may have would be greatly appreciated :)

[neveruse513]

lol...homeskollars

[RennHunter]

I love this, it's just brilliant. Back off Badman, we have the support of the public!

And we also know more because I have just started a GCSE in English Language two years before they do in school and I'm home ed.

[Merina2222]

Fantastic! Very well done, don't listen to the other people hating it, it's great you've made the effort to do anything at all.

[Wilipeidia]

i love it very much

love the end

a schoolboy who'll sit on a stool and reveal all he has learnt in school, i think i better think it out again

[TheMatrixTrap]

Its people that call others cave dwellers that are in fact the cave dwellers. That kind of insane dribble is exactly what we are dealing with, we don't need the small fry to but their 2 pence worth in too.

Any way to the intelligent souls.....well done this is great....you have talent there. cave dwellers wouldn't know where to start if they tried an attempt like this one...keep up the good work guys x

[TheWokingdragon]

@thefunshack:

It may not be the best we home edders can come up with - if you want serious debate try some of the videos on the right - but it's something you might not have heard of, called HUMOUR!

[thefunshack]

oh, did you go to school?

[ThePhantomCorrector]

@thefunshack:

For a bit. And then when I stopped I no longer had nightmares and a fear of sleeping.

[thefunshack]

Absolute crap. 42 ratings five star ratings for some inane waffle and supportive comments from cave dwellers. Sorry bud but if this is the best home edders come up with then Badman's got it made. You dummies.

[ThePhantomCorrector]

Badman has not got it made; if you would shut your foul mouth and look around, you will come across much evidence against the Badman review. How dare you call people you don't even know cave dwellers based upon their opinion; you could at least come up with something constructive; but no. You insult people without reason. If you have a point to make, make it; don't speak utter rubbish.

[thefunshack]

I did make a point - have you ever considered what presented the Government with an opportunity to authorise the Badman review. This piece is lame in my opinion and lacks humour (TheWorkingDragon). Fair enough, you don't want a serious debate, but you could have come up with genuine humour as opposed to pointing out the apparently obvious by taking the piss (foul mouth, lol!) out of Graham Badman who is a Government puppet. I'd have thought Ed Balls (er, foul mouth?!!!) a better target!

[ThePhantomCorrector]

@thefunshack

In a lot of other opinions it doesn't lack humor; if you do not find it funny, go and watch something else. You said nothing about why this would make Badman look good; you only expressed your personal (and unpleasant sounding) opinion on the video. And what you seem to misunderstand is that taking the piss and pointing out the obvious are genuine humor; apparently just not the kind you find funny.

[staticenz]

Hilarious. Nice work

[maire52]

We keep coming back to this, thank you PhantomCorrector, it is cheering and motivating to sustain us in our fight.

Beth would still like one about Ed Balls.

[ThePhantomCorrector]

@marie52:

I'm trying to think of one, but I can't find anything that sounds right.

[TheLuckyCat]

Love it very muchly :P

[Twilerhart]

Very good!

[wigerly]

This is amazing!

[Aurinia1984]

this has just made me laugh so much, especially as DP woke up singing the original this morning!!!

lets hope home education can continue as it is for us

[mmartini50]

"The varied ideas and opinions of HEs have been developed for a million years of human evolution."

A typically modest HE claim. Good luck.

[Aurinia1984]

its simply the truth :)

[mmartini50]

Phantom:

Everything's ideology, though, isn't it? Yours, mine, the government's...

The educational establishment's standards, developed over many years, are more objective and than the varied ideas and opinions of HEs, passionate though they are. As I say, quality control.

I know schools have failings, but they succeed on a number of fronts and I don't buy into the propaganda that the system is awash with incompetence and brutish conformity.

Anyway, good luck with your campaign.

[Hillybunnies]

mmartini50 btw home education hasn't changed much in the last 50 years, I know this because I have been reading about a lady called Joy Baker who fought for the right to home educate in the 1950's and her ideology (which was based on observing her children) was very similar to mine and many other home educators today. It is in fact the education system that has been tweaked to destruction and that is why I do not accept judgement from those who uphold it.

[ThePhantomCorrector]

@mmartini50:

No, some things are merely passive opinion.

The varied ideas and opinions of HEs have been developed for a million years of human evolution. Schools do succeed on some fronts, but look at all the bullying, the increasing number of childline calls, the stress from SATs. Their failings are not something to be overlooked.

[mmartini50]

Phantom:

I see your point. I have no love for Ofsted or for this 'control freak' government, for that matter. I also think they've done the country no service these last 20 years.

But I do think there must be some sort of quality control somewhere along the line. I'm sure not all HE's are equally resourceful and responsible, although no doubt many are; and like it or not, we are all ovelooked in what we do.  It's part of living in a modern society.

[ThePhantomCorrector]

I do not believe that we have to be watched and overlooked in what we do, and have no say in it. That would be being part of a communist society, and if that is a modern society, then something must be done about it.

[mmartini50]

cgsouthey: 1: highly dramatic - but being accountable does not amount to "owning you". 2: let's see some figures for that claim. 3: because Ed Ball's ideology is the predominant educational ideology in our society, and it pre-empts yours just as the ideology behind the NHS pre-empts that of BUPA. 4: No, inspections seek to establish that you're meeting minimum standards and are doing what you say you're doing. 5: Nice.

[ThePhantomCorrector]

@mmartini50:

4: Your 'minimum standards' are the standards of the ideology. What we say we're doing is providing a balanced education, and we are, but the inspectors wouldn't say so. That is just their opinion, however, and not necessarily true.

[cgsouthey]

mmartini50: 1. I say again, the government - and schools - are accountable to us, not the other way around. 2. let's see some figures to the contrary it before we introduce laws based on speculation. 3. Wrong - how many teachers agree with the government's tick-box approach to schooling? (my wife is a teacher btw). 4The govt's 'standards' are based on an impoverished model of 'do x by age y' which does not fit with natural diversity in the way different children learn.

[mmartini50]

If you want to home educate your child, that's your concern. Unless you are drawing Income Support to enable you to do it. If that is the case, it becomes the taxpayer's and the government's concern. We don't pay for your ideology while there's a funded alternative available to you.

Schools are required to provide a broad curriculum. You should as well. "But we do!" you say. In that case, nothing to worry about - demonstrate it to the registering inspector. Everybody wins!

[ThePhantomCorrector]

@mmartini50: Home Educators hear that last bit a lot. The catch: an inspector and a Home Educator often have differing ideas of a broad curriculum. Why? Because Home Education is about not having a school curriculum. An inspector's idea of suitable education is a school curriculum. It all ends in court, there are lots of arguments, and nobody wins. Nobody.

[cgsouthey]

mmartini50: 1: being on income support does not mean the government owns you and can run your life. 2: home educators save taxpayers a fortune by not putting their kids in school. 3: I and many other home educators pay tax by the bucketload - why should we pay for Ed Balls' ideology for that matter? 4: inspections would seek to impose the very (flawed) ideology we home educate to get away from. 5: you are not paying for anything so MYOB.

[JasonChalifoux]

You home educators should be registered and have yearly goals.

The rest of society and the government is going to be responsible for the person that you eventually produce, so we as a society should be able to make sure that that person is going to be a benefit to society when they come to working age.

If you don't like it, vote with your feet and leave this country.

[Hillybunnies]

Hi Jason, was the government responsible for producing you?

That figures, I rest my case.

[ThePhantomCorrector]

@JasonChalifoux:

You seem to think that society works for the government. This is not true; in fact it is the other way round. Leaders were invented as someone to turn to for help, not someone who turns to you for help.

[cgsouthey]

JasonChalifoux: Who is "we as a society" ? Do you speak for the nation ? HE kids are regularly shown to be high achievers. They will be responsible for themselves thanks - unlike so many who have been through our failed school system. If govt targets and inspections make everything better - why don't state schools always outperform independent schools? And no, when the govt does things we don't like we won't vote with our feet and leave - we will vote with our ballot papers and kick them out !

[flyingorange0031]

Are you saying that all those people who are registered and have yearly goals (and all that went before them) are all being 'produced' into benefits to society? HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA Go back and do your homework, properly!

[dbright960112003]

Mass Lobby of Parliament 2.30pm Tuesday 13 October 2009...

Let's show them what happens when freedom breaks out in the home!

Let's face it though, if the state has the right to monitor your child's education which is their right under the law in '96, then what else can the state monitor? Have you changed your child's nappy? Do your children know how to walk yet? Have you mowed your lawn...? Where do we draw the line on state interference...Texas has the answer: give none

[Hillybunnies]

EducationOtherwise1: I think you are missing the point, isn't the child themselves a living record of their education? And are you suggesting that the state education is a benchmark we should aspire too? When kids have a bad time at school who do they blame? The school, but do they realise their parents had the choice not to send them.

Schools are prisons and I am not prepared to have my kids confined and force fed gloop, and I won't give them gloop at home either.

[EducationOtherwise1]

Absolute rubbish. Ranting about Mr Badman rouses such an applause - awesome!? - you moron. The lyrics stink. Home educators are responsible for the Badman Report. Home educators on national tv saying they have no record of their child's education - wouldn't you be worried. Want conspiracy theories - read Steam Shovel press. Oh, incidentally, I was home educated and have since been university educated. Its a simple fact that home educators across the county have not done themselves any favours.

[ThePhantomCorrector]

@EducationOtherwise1:

It's not a rant, it's comic relief. How dare you say that Home Educators are responsible for it! Home Educators are only doing what they have always done. You cannot keep a record of education. It is a natural process like eating and drinking. Do you keep a record of what you have eaten? Is there a timetable for when you go to the toilet?

[cgsouthey]

EducationOtherwise1: You seem very angry about something - are you Graham Badman, perchance?

[mammatube]

Brilliant! Tolstoy would be proud!!!!!

[childrenstoys]

Awesome, I think its brilliant the way it all fits and very funny too!!

[mmartini50]

Home Educators should be as accountable as anyone else. Grow up.

[cgsouthey]

mmartini50: accountable to whom ? For what ? We are not accountable to the government: the government should be accountable to us !

[ThePhantomCorrector]

@mmartini50: Parents do not have to prove to the government that their children are getting a good education at home. The law states entirely otherwise.

[jacothelll]

this is brilliant

[GoldenLight111]

Fantastic! We need to get this on the radio! Haha it would top the charts!! Love it !! :D

[maire52]

Beth says

Absolutely brilliant, do one with Ed Balls in it.

[Natilra]

Brilliant!

This vid is absolutely fantastic.

However, we have to remember that he's only Labour's puppet. We shouldn't let ourselves get too focused on him and lose sight of what else they're trying to slip past us.

[SaltySeaScubaDog]

Oh the poor lamb. You know he is going to moan again to Ed Balls about being victimised by those nasty home educators. Personally after meeting Mr Badman it seems like a perfectly reasonable representation of the snake.

[rhyfelwrDuw]

Excellent - you could do with making a record ummm I mean CD - sorry I was educated in school... :)

[OurStory04]

Fantastic!

[tamsinp21]

Bloody fantastic :D

[daleswitch]

Love it! Bloody brilliant! Bravo!

[flyingorange0031]

Absolutely bloomin' fantastic! We don't need anymore than this to show the rest of the country what it's all about! Let's all send this link to our local media :)!

[maire52]

superb!

[tabbykhat]

roflmao

[jemmo357]

Brilliant! Excellent! Fantastic! :DDD

[Wobblymoo]

Love it :)

[OrganisedPauper]

Brilliant!

[pete23darby]

Fantastic! Why hasn't anyone done this one before, it fits so very, very wel!