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This I agree with. There is a huge difference between "Off the grid" and "third world conditions". These uneducated kids will have no chance at a job, or any sort of future; the parents are forcing their kids into a lifestyle they may not want in 10 years.
Exactly. I thought this as truly off grid, not some make shift compound akin to what Jaycee Dugard was forced to endure as part of her punishment
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And what about the personal freedom of their kids? What if one of their kids wants to go to school and live with air conditioning and modern medical care? What if one of their older kids wants to get a job but finds they are totally unemployable because they can't get a GED?
Yes this is a very extreme case. The older brother turned them in, he says they are not clean. Their floor entails just free wood pallets. Poor kid was raised this way. She needs birth control
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Even the Amish educate their children and allow them the chance at the outside world before they are locked into a specific lifestyle.
Yes and the amish live quite decently. This is just inhumane.
Oh, please, spare me the crocodile tears! If these cretins were black and living in a city, you would all be on the government's side, but because this trash is white and claiming to live "off the grid", you all pretend they're being "persecuted".
They live in a tent ... and the thing has a fence instead of walls! They get their water from a pond! They don't bother to educate their children! One of their own children testified against them! They've been investigated before! The husband has threatened neighbors with a gun!
Contrary to what you think, children are not CHATTEL owned by their parents. Parents do not have the right to raise children in unhealthy conditions or to keep them uneducated and ignorant so that they have a supply of dependent laborers who have no options except to work for nutcase dad and mom.
"Simpler life-style" my butt! The Amish live a "simpler life-style" but they live in houses NOT in tents and they educate their children not leave them ignorant!
I spent a great deal of time in a tent both as a child and an adult. Native Americans lived in tents (tipis) for centuries. I knew how to hunt, fish, and gather before I was five, but I could also read and write, knew my times tables (up to twelve x twelve), and I was a happy, healthy, kid - at least, at that time.
IMHO (worth what you paid for it) some clearly myopic people should ST&U!
It appears these children are not receiving an education. At least one that will prepare them for the 21st century.
I don't know enough about the case to comment on whether or not they should be taken from their parents, but they most certainly were not being well-educated by a couple of Kentucky hillbillies with no access to educational materials. Unless a couple of them are outrageously brilliant and can find their way through the world on their own, these kids are pretty much doomed to a life of manual labor or a lifestyle very similar to their parents. Is it right for CPS to take these kids away in this case? I don't know.
If these parents are familiar with the Unschooling method of educating their children, they must have done considerable research. We used the Unschooling system ourselves, and as missionaries, lived in (horrors) tents at times, and yes, my kids all know how to poop responsibly in the woods. (Read How to $hit in the Woods - available from Amazon.) They also know how to survive in the woods (and in most terrains on the planet), with nothing more than the shirts on their backs, which could come in handy if Obama keeps on his present course! My children are all responsible adults and our youngest daughter is presently finishing up her PhD thesis. ALL of them have IQs that would allow them membership in the Mensa Society - if they were so inclined, which they are not. We have five beautiful grandchildren and hope for many more.
DH and I tour for most of the year and live (horrors) 'off the grid,' using solar panels on a paid-for tour bus to meet our electrical needs. We have Internet, indoor plumbing (which is really a farce in a tour bus or RV, as it's merely a tank which has to be emptied and cleaned out often, but hey, we sit on a bona fide toidy, so I guess it must be okay), a microwave, stove, fridge, TV (we don't watch TV, but we do like movies - and we own quite a few), and so on.
The Unschooling method, as anyone with a comprehensive background in education knows, still produces the highest-scoring students on the planet. Obtaining one's GED or sitting one's SATs is never a problem, and neither is admittance to any university. Are you aware that Harvard prefers Unschooled students?Top universities want you to homeschool | Penelope Trunk Education
In short, the world today is a mess, and public schools are an embarrassment. Fully 75% of high school graduates are functionally illiterate (when all factors are considered).
Way to go America!
If I were a gambling woman, I'd bet my bottom dollar that every one of the kids in that 'off the grid' family, over the age of five, can read.
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I'm about done here as despite links - many of you refuse to use them to educate yourself before posting making your posts foolish. We now have a society that does not accept things that aren't the norm for most of us - and yet - there are many areas in this country where people live just as our great grandparents lived. As long as those kids are happy and healthy - they may parent the way they want. I see an awful lot of sad kids, whose parents are rich - but have no time for them - attend the best schools but have no friends or social experiences and grow up to preach at others about things they know nothing about.
That's what they though 100 years ago, when my dad was born.
He nearly died of typhoid fever from contaminated common well water in the shanty town where he grew up in a (literally) tar paper shack.
A hole in the ground will NOT do just fine - unless you consider a 50% to 60% infant mortality rate to be A-OK (keeping in mind that 5 year olds still count as "infants").
My grandparents only had an outhouse into the late 70's to early 80's. None of their children or grandchildren died. We also had well water.
Exactly. I thought this as truly off grid, not some make shift compound akin to what Jaycee Dugard was forced to endure as part of her punishment
Yes this is a very extreme case. The older brother turned them in, he says they are not clean. Their floor entails just free wood pallets. Poor kid was raised this way. She needs birth control
Yes and the amish live quite decently. This is just inhumane.
No, this is simply different from what you are expecting. Again, they chose to not chase "The American Dream". Living in the burbs and rushing like a chicken with it's head cut off is not for everyone.
However, IF the father sexually abused or physically abused anyone THAT is not acceptable.
I spent a great deal of time in a tent both as a child and an adult. Native Americans lived in tents (tipis) for centuries. I knew how to hunt, fish, and gather before I was five, but I could also read and write, knew my times tables (up to twelve x twelve), and I was a happy, healthy, kid - at least, at that time.
IMHO (worth what you paid for it) some clearly myopic people should ST&U!
Mahrie.
Native Americans lived in all types of houses, and most all of them were better then what these people are living in.
Native Americans lived in all types of houses, and most all of them were better then what these people are living in.
Yes, yes, and they lived in close-knit communities and had help readily available when needed. Besides, your knowledge of Native Americans isn't that great if you believe that they all lived in well-kept houses. Many poorer tribes or family groups had only bark and moss to keep out the winter winds. I'm guessing all of those people would have welcomed a shed or a tarp!
The bottom line, in any case, is how the children are faring. They look perfectly healthy and happy to me, so if they aren't in physical danger and are being looked after spiritually and emotionally, what business is it of anyone's how or where they are raised? The family is in the middle of expanding their living quarters, and it isn't winter now, so they have a good six months to put up cozy sleeping quarters. I could build a log cabin in that amount of time - even at this age and stage, so I'm sure they'll manage just fine - God Willing.
Mahrie.
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