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Updates from Germany ~ Melissa Busekros' father speaks out

1:17 AM, Feb. 13, 2007

February of last week, Melissa's father, Hubert Busekros spoke with kreuz.net, a German catholic site. Here is the translation:

The case of a normal 15 year old girl who was dragged from the family home is shocking Germany currently.

(kreuz.net) On the first of February, 15 police officers lead the healthy, 15 year old girl out of an in tact family and into psychiatric treatment.

The family is evangelic-reformed and belongs to the Hungenott church in Erlangen.

Melissa's father, Hubert Busekros, has in the meantime filed a request for the immediate suspension of the act.

With that, the files were handed over to the Provincial High Court of Appeal in Nuremburg for a decision.

Why wasn't Melissa moved to another Gymnasium when there are, after all, seven Gymnasien? (The Gymnasium is the highest level of secondary education in Germany. Really, only graduates from the Gymnasium go on to take the Abitur and are thus able to enter the university system or a better job.)

Hubert Busekros: Melissa wanted to stay in her class. Therefore we worked to keep her in the school.

But obviously the wishes of the child is of little meaning to the state. It appears that the officials know what is best for a child.

Why was the 15 year old alone abroad on the date of the hearing in family court?

Hubert Busekros: The girl was not under any judicial travel restrictions. Besides, it was vacation time.

Why did the family allow the other five children remain at the state schools when they are obviouslyso bad?

Hubert Busekros: Because our children desired it. We strive to respect the personalities of our children. The state's uniform education mash isn't suited for everyone.

But Melissa is under the compulsory school attendance law...

Hubert Busekros: No, the compulsory attendance period was already over. (However, in Bavaria, as I believe in most of Germany, you are required to either be in school or enrolled in an apprenticeship program).

Why aren't the local daily papers reporting on the case?

Hubert Busekros: The local papers have determined that there will be no report. It is about a personal affair that is not of public interest. Whose bread I eat, what song I sing--or I remain silent.

How is Melissa doing in psychiatric treatment?

Hubert Busekros: Melissa is a strong personality. It appears she is handling the shock in which our family currently lives the best of us all.

Is it clear, how long your daughter will stay in psychiatric treatment?

Hubert Busekros: At the wish of the consultant, Melissa should remain for one week. But the Youth Welfare Office in Erlangen will make the final decision. (As of this writing, Melissa has still not been released. The last I read, her mother and siblings are allowed brief visits, but not her father.)

How are you thinking to proceed from here?

Hubert Busekros: I request that the mayor of Erlangen as the highest public servant of the Youth Welfare Office to ensure that our daughter is released.

For anyone who is interested in further updates on the case, I have been keeping translated summaries of the reports on my blog. From everything I have read, it appears that Melissa was expected to be released on Friday, but that did not happen. Here is additional contact information for anyone interested (note, no mail is being given to Melissa):

Youth Welfare Office
Director: Edeltraud Höllerer
Rathaus
Rathausplatz 1
91052 Erlangen
Tel. +49 (0) 9131 86-2844
Fax +49 (0) 9131 86-2438

Mail: edeltraud.hoellerer@stadt.erlangen.de

Or stadtjugendamt@stadt.erlangen.de

Responsible Official

Monika Muzenhardt

Mail: monika.muzenhardt@stadt.erlangen.de

Mayor of the Town of Erlangen

Dr. Siegfried Balleis
Rathausplatz 1
91052 Erlangen
Fon: +49 [0] 9131 86-0
Fax: +49 [0] 9131 86-26 92

Mail: ob@stadt.erlangen.de

Local Court Erlangen

Family court

Richterin Frank-Daupin

Mozartstraße 23

91052 Erlangen

Tel. +49 9131-782 01

Fax +49 9131/782-361

(No Email address available)

Minister of Justice in Bavaria

Beate Merk

Prielmayerstr. 7

80335 München

Tel. +49 89 5597 1799

Fax +49 89 5597 3580

Email: beate.merk@stmj.bayern.de

Clinic Nürnberg-Nord/Psychatrie

Prof.-Ernst-Nathan-Str. 1
90419 Nürnberg
chief physician: Prof. Jörg Wiesse

Email: joerg.wiesse@klinikum-nuernberg.de

Assistant Medical Director

Dr. Schanda

(Responsible for the survey of Melissa)

Tel: 0911-398-3877

Fax: 0911-398-3261

Email: KJP_B@klinikum-nuernberg.de

axel.froelich@klinikum-nuernberg.de

You can send your letter of encouragement to Melissa to:

Melissa Busekros

Klinikum Nuernberg-Nord

Haus 48 B

Prof.-Ernst-Nathan-Str. 1

D-90419 Nuerenberg

GERMANY

Dana Hanley has a degree in Education and Liberal Arts with a major in German from the University of Kansas. She lived for a total of two years in Germany as an exchange student and currently homeschools her own three children.

Related Tags: Busekros, homeschooling, homeschooling in Germany

Posted in Updates from Germany, 5 comments, Link
Leave a Comment

Comments
Untitled Comment

12:28 PM, Feb. 13, 2007, posted by Anonymous

Edit to the above: Melissa has been moved from the clinic, but the Youth Welfare Office has reportedly not told the family why or where she was moved to.

Dana

Untitled Comment

3:35 PM, Feb. 14, 2007, posted by Anonymous

Unfortunately, what you are intentionally leaving out is that Melissa was NOT attending any sort of school. She was refusing to attend school, and had failed the 7th grade. This is why she was expelled in the first place. It is very interesting to me how you are intentionally leaving out some major points in this case. For those reading, if you learn more about this case, family and child, you will see that there is much more to the situation than you are being told. It is not a case of a perfectly normal family just trying to homeschool their child, and having their child ripped away from them.

In other words, as with everything else you read on this blog, the opinion is EXTREMELY biased and a lot of information is skewed and is lies by deception and by by simply leaving out vital information.

I relate this blog to the National Enquirer... it is written to tell a story that is sensational but not necessarily true.

Untitled Comment

3:35 PM, Feb. 14, 2007, posted by Anonymous

Unfortunately, what you are intentionally leaving out is that Melissa was NOT attending any sort of school. She was refusing to attend school, and had failed the 7th grade. This is why she was expelled in the first place. It is very interesting to me how you are intentionally leaving out some major points in this case. For those reading, if you learn more about this case, family and child, you will see that there is much more to the situation than you are being told. It is not a case of a perfectly normal family just trying to homeschool their child, and having their child ripped away from them.

In other words, as with everything else you read on this blog, the opinion is EXTREMELY biased and a lot of information is skewed and is lies by deception and by by simply leaving out vital information.

I relate this blog to the National Enquirer... it is written to tell a story that is sensational but not necessarily true.

Untitled Comment

4:25 AM, Feb. 15, 2007, posted by Anonymous

Anonymous,

Thank you for your comment, but it is not directly related to this entry since this is purely the translation of an interview provided to kreuz.net. Nothing is being "intentionally left out" because this has already been addressed. You can follow the link to more information, but rehashing the same points is not necessary in every post. A summary of the case:

Melissa was enrolled full time in her Gymnasium but not doing well. She failed two courses and was going to have to repeat a year.

Her parents did not feel that necessary and Melissa desired to stay with her class. Her parents attempted to tutor her in some of her classes, sending her to school part time.

This was not acceptable to the school authorities, so she was expelled and recommended to go to the Hauptschule, Germany's lowest level of secondary education.

Then her parents chose to homeschool her full time. This is illegal, which is clear, but do you really think that her parents' desire to provide her with a better chance than what the Hauptschule can provide her with is criminal neglect?

The psychological evaluation done on her is now available and it hardly seems to show any abuse. The only thing that seems to be wrong with Melissa is that she was not thriving in school, her parents tried to help her and she and her parents think this is a normal situation.

Dana

Untitled Comment

5:22 AM, Feb. 15, 2007, posted by Anonymous

By the way, I assume you are aware of the fact that the EU Parliament is currently looking closely at alleged human rights abuses by the German Youth Welfare Office due to a long history of human rights abuses? It has nothing to do with homeschooling, but definitely shows that there are concerns with this particular institution that go beyond this one case.

Dana

http://deutsche-jugendamt.blogspot.com/

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