I have been in or around home schooling for the majority of my life. For most of my years, either I was a home-school student, my siblings were home-school students, or my children have been home-school students, with my younger boy still at the beginning of his educational journey. My four siblings also continued the tradition, all opting to home-school their children as well.

As a teenaged home-school student having some difficulty focusing on math and other assignments during the daytime—when it’s all nice outside, and younger kids are making noise, and my mind is racing and . . . hey! My dog is running around out there, I want to run around out there—my mother offered me the opportunity to complete work late at night when others were sleeping and focus came easier to me during the calm quiet. This turned out to be a great system, giving me experience working independently and having some ability to set my own schedule while still meeting deadlines.

In addition to this schedule flexibility, home schooling provided me the ability to spend more time and energy on my interests of geography, reading, cooking and piano, and less time standing in line and filling in bubbles on multiple choice tests.

The Tennessee Constitution states that: “The General Assembly shall provide for the maintenance, support and eligibility standards of a system of free public schools.”

It does not, however, state that anyone shall be forced to participate in that system, and while public education can be a valuable element in the lives of many, many Americans (a taxpayer-funded babysitter, social club, social experiment, or psych ward of sorts, for others), thousands of families in Tennessee opt to take on the responsibility of educating their children, which they do for a wide variety of reasons.

Some students function better with individual learning rather than in a large group setting. Other families home-school for religious reasons, not wanting to subject young impressionable minds to the establishment’s indoctrination and politically correct narratives of the day. Some families want the ability to travel, thinking perhaps seeing the world for oneself could provide a better education than seven hours a day in the cold confines of any government building. Others aim to specifically train their children for a particular skill, trade or career, whether that be taking over the family business or getting them on a track to become a cook, woodworker, figure skater, automotive repair professional, concert oboist or other specialization. Families do not owe anyone an explanation of the reasons that they choose to home-school.

And studies have demonstrated that those who have gotten an education at home report higher levels of mental health, and a lower likelihood of abusing drugs and alcohol.

“Anxiety and depression levels were found to be below the general population’s, and homeschoolers were found to be generally happy compared to the U.S. population at large,” according to a 2012 study on mental health among grown home-school students and home-schooling parents.

As it stands, regulations upon Tennessee home-school families are fairly mild. Parents submit attendance records stating that the student has completed 180 days of “schooling” per year to their church-related umbrella school or to their local public school district. Parents or legal guardians may be required to provide proof of enrollment.

“Parent-teachers whose students are in grades nine through twelve must possess at least a high school diploma or a high school equivalency credential approved by the state Board of Education,” according to the Tennessee Department of Education.

Independent home-school students (not registered with an umbrella organization) must take the TCAP assessment in grades five, seven and nine.

Still, there seems to be a growing attitude that government knows best, and families have some need for government to set rules for them to follow, even though home schooling has shown to lead to better or equal outcomes compared to the public school system.

Additionally, the Tennessee Board of Education—an unelected board of appointed bureaucrats—has the ability to “promulgate the rules”; in other words, set state educational requirements without the representatives of the people even voting on them.  This led to some confusion related to some recent rules from the board regarding the length of a school day: is it four hours of study per day? Is it six and a half? Are there particular hours when we are not learning throughout each day . . . ? How do we distinguish what “learning time” is, and what if the government and the parents disagree upon that?

This framework of oversight, along with the proposed mess of a school voucher bill (containing language that could impose further restriction and government oversight upon home schoolers), as well as cries from liberal legislators for more “accountability,” have motivated some Tennessee home-school families to seek legislation protecting parents’ right to direct the education of their children.

What sort of bright ideas might the Board of Education come up with next?

In other states, home schoolers have become subject to further regulation, at-home visits, state control over curriculum, voucher or scholarship money with strings attached.

Many home-school families don’t necessarily want input on how to make home education more similar to government education.

Why would you want the more successful system to more closely resemble the inferior one?

The government-run organizations don’t always demonstrate a pattern of good decisions. Now they want increasing power over counseling, diagnosing and influencing children.

Consider the idea that the government schools, and their cramming-for-the-test approach, cause undue anxiety in children!

“Public schools that expect the smallest children to sit still and quiet for 7 hours a day, that give kids 25 minutes for lunch and an hour total for recess, question why small children act out, and now tell the parents of 5-year-olds that this is ‘concerning behavior’ and a problem with the child, and to seek solutions from the child’s pediatrician,” one home-school mother said. “The same godless entities that force-masked and quarantined children for a year and a half for a disease that we knew all along only mildly affects children, are completely unwilling to admit that they are often the cause of anxiety and stress that leads to behavioral problems, now claim they should be fully equipped with the dollars and staff to diagnose and manage the full social-emotional and mental needs of children. That’s completely backwards and quite scary.”

While proponents of big government and big education want home-school families to report to the state, those in favor of educational freedom view the correct power structure as one in which children report to their parents, the parents report to God. The end.

The government is not in that equation.

If it were in the equation, it would report to the people, not the other way around!

Surely, some will argue the point with words like “accountability,” “standards” and “what about the test scores?”

I will respond with words like “freedom” and “mind your own business and leave my family out of your globalist agenda and Big Brother surveillance-state way of thinking.”

Government’s job is to protect my freedom, not to lead the indoctrination of our children.

Well . . . what if Mary Sue is behind in her spelling?

Maybe Mary Sue is great at playing violin, baking or mathematics. Leave her alone!

But, but . . . aren’t home schoolers missing out on “socialization?” Can they function in a group setting?

Please, let’s not act as if those who go through the government schools automatically receive the social skills.

Others will say that home schoolers are “weird,” whether that judgment is from actual interaction with actual home-school students, or simply imaginary preconceptions.

Okay, if we want to get into stereotypes, many home-school families may opt for being slightly weird over the alternative, and view many of those participating in the government institutions as conformist, brainwashed, worker-bee drones.

Others will conjure up some horrible situation in which a home-schooled child is chained to their bed or dwelling in a hypothetical impoverished drug lab.

“What about the kids?” they will say.

Keep in mind, we’re not talking here about doing away with child abuse laws nor meth laws. Those laws still apply. Prosecute those who abuse their children or cook meth in a home with children.

But home schooling is not a crime, and shall not be regulated by the government.

State Senator Janice Bowling seems to agree, stating her willingness to sponsor legislation this coming session to protect family’s rights to educate their children and prevent further regulation and government takeover of home schooling.

Look for the Family Right to Educational Emancipation (FREE) Act this coming year in the Tennessee General Assembly. This legislation recognizes the fundamental right of parents to direct the education, upbringing, and care of their children without interference or undue regulation from the state, and exempts children receiving educational instruction from their parent or legal guardian from all state reporting requirements, testing and attendance included.

“No state or local agency shall infringe upon the rights of parents or legal guardians to make decisions concerning their children’s education, including but not limited to the selection of curriculum, course of study, and method of instruction,” according to draft bill language.

We shall soon see how the rest of the legislators receive this idea and how they stand.

Tennessee will remain a supportive place for home schoolers.