Whatever other differences there are between America and other Western democracies one basic and fundamental difference shows up over children’s schooling. In the USA the parent is responsible for a child’s education, the same goes for the UK. In Sweden it seems a child is on loan to the parents but ultimately belongs to the state, as in Germany.
Comments on the article in the Economist puts the blame for state control on the increasing Moslem population in the E.U. not integrating in the society of the host country. But as I understand in my reading, Germany has never released state control of its children since they were commandeered for the Hitler Youth Movement. Although there is freedom at the moment for parents to choose to home school their children in the UK, there is evidence that it is Islam that is causing concern for central government which is bringing pressure to bear on home schooling in the UK.
All is being done for 7-year-old Dominic Johansson but Sweden appears to be a very severe regime when it will only allow his parents to have a one-hour visit every five weeks!
Due to the freedoms America provides parents it can claim evidence of academic excellence in its burgeoning home schooling community, with academic achievement and social integration above that of state schooling. Comparing the US with Germany and Sweden one can’t help feeling that the secularist/atheist leanings of Europe provide evidence of moving towards a state control that is anathema to the Christian based society of the USA. What is happening in these countries is what we would have associated with the Soviet Union before its demise. This is a fear that we have in the UK, of giving away our Christian heritage with its democratic base.
