Homeschoolers Hold Flash Mob Protest

In the Netherlands, a small but fierce homeschool population is combating threats to outlaw homeschooling with imagination and information.

In November, about 100 Dutch homeschoolers staged a flash mob in The Hague in response to a homeschooling ban proposed by State Secretary for Education Sander Dekker.

Called “Dutch home educators in the spotlight,” the flash mob’s videotaped performance included a colorful, choreographed routine to songs about freedom, kids demonstrating science experiments and other typical homeschooling activities, and homeschoolers riding unicycles. In addition to passing out flyers that declared, “Home education must remain possible,” organizers of the flash mob launched a website dedicated to educating non-homeschoolers about the practice.

More than 400 children are homeschooled in the Netherlands, one of nine countries that allow homeschooling with severe restrictions. Thirty countries permit homeschooling, some ban it but rarely prosecute, and others don’t address it in their laws. A report published in the Examiner provides a list of countries that permit, regulate, and ban homeschooling. In 2014, Dutch legislators will decide whether or not to become the 29th country to outlaw homeschooling.

For more information on countries and their laws, see Wikipedia’s homeschooling international status and statistics.

What restrictions does your state or country place on homeschooling?