| In an item headlined “Judge leaves teen in parents' custody: Decision is temporary victory in homeschool battle on September 25, 2009, Bob Unruh of WorldNetDaily reported that a judge in Germany has left a teen in the custody of his parents – for now – in what homeschooling advocates are describing as a big win in their ongoing war with authorities over the legitimacy of home education practices. The decision this week came in the case of Aaron Schmidt, the son of Hans and Petra Schmidt, who live in Southern Bavaria, according to a report from Joel Thornton of the International Human Rights Group. Thornton has been working on the case and was in Germany for the hearing, even though he was banned from the courtroom because of objections from the local German Youth Welfare Office [editor’s note: sounds like a holdover from Nazi days, WSW]. The Schmidts have taught their children, Josua and Aaron, at home for nine years. Josua, 16, recently finished tests documenting his completion of all the requirements of the school system. But the fight remains over future schooling for Aaron, 14, who has been tested as performing at high academic levels. Thornton reported the judge's final decision "was that the local school should give Aaron a test to see if he is academically okay. Pending the results of that test all the attorneys agree that the court will leave custody with the parents – instead of transferring custody to the state." "This is a big partial victory," Thornton told WND. "This is not the first time it has happened, but it is rare, that the court has not ruled that homeschooling is against the law and therefore nothing further needed to be done other than putting the child in school. "This is one of the first times that a German court has intimated that they would not stop the homeschooling as long as the child was being educated properly," he explained. "This is a huge victory in the making. If we can get this court to continue and more courts to agree that homeschooling is not, in itself, harmful, then we can begin to make a dent in the legal system that is currently punishing parents for exercising their legal right to control the education of their children." |