I wasn't homeschooled and it's not legal to do it in my country even, so I have a bias. That being said it seems weird to me that parents in the US seem to consider that they "own" their kids to a much bigger degree than some places in Europe at least. I don't have kids but I think most parents around me growing up had a sense that their kid also belongs "to society" in a way, and going to school and learning about what society "wants you to" is expected, in the same way you also are just simply required to vaccinate and that's it, because you also "belong to society" in some way other than just belonging to your parents.
I wonder how much of the whole debate is mostly about difference of opinions between people on both sides of this specific subject rather than the ones the media focuses on.
Well the issue is that the United States is very diverse. Most countries are basically monocultural ethnostates. My kids do not belong to American society but they definitely belong to a particular culture. And within that culture, and families who partake, we do 'share' our children.
But, to bring the culture wars into this, how do you feel that you have joint guardianship of a child whose parent fundamentally disagrees with you? With our church group, I trust the parents to discipline, to entertain and to teach in a way consistent with my beliefs, even if they're very different people. On the other hand, my next door neighbor is convinced my daughter is a boy because she likes trucks and would like her to be trans, like she has already transed her son. When you perceive other adults attempting to abuse your child and this is a common enough movement you're not going to be able to feel any joint sense of guardianship. And it's not just culture issues. Unsurprisingly, neighbors children are also poorly behaved, disrespectful, and never get told no.
America has fully embraced multiculturalism without assimilation, so there are now dozens of cultures, so no sense of joint guardianship over children.
So grown ups in a country where children aren't allowed to be home schooled generally believe that their children "belong to society"?
At what point do we call it culture and "difference of opinion" as opposed to just plain old indoctrination or brainwashing?
It's not a left vs right issue, this is freedom vs tyranny. Right now the left isn't able see it as Tyranny or indoctrination because their predominant opinions and values are being taught to children, so it's convenient. It's another form of "civilizing those barbarian <insert unfavorable group here>".
At the end of the day, I don't belong to society, and neither do my children. They belong to themselves and can choose for themselves how they see fit. Until then, I'll instill my values to them, and make sure they treat their fellow beings better than the way "society" treats them.
I wonder how much of the whole debate is mostly about difference of opinions between people on both sides of this specific subject rather than the ones the media focuses on.