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Comment by Xylakant | Hacker News Reader

But the question is whether parents should be the ultimate authority on the child, and the law in many countries does not support that. The lines get drawn at different points in different countries, but many have laws against child endangerment etc.

For example, in Europe it’s mandatory to send your child to school - whether the parents want it or not. Some parts of the curriculum are mandatory, whether the parents agree or not.

It is the role of the tutor and teacher to ensure that children receive an education in line with this. Parents can complain, but they have no authority there.

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> For example, in Europe it’s mandatory to send your child to school

No. No it isn’t. I don’t know where you’re writing from but I can tell you that home schooling is a thing in some European countries. Maybe all of them? I can say for sure and I’m unwilling to subscribe to a sweeping statement about a mass of 44 countries. It amazes me that anyone would.

Regardless of jurisdiction, OP is not the state and the issues they're talking about (ADHD diagnosis and vaccines) are not related to their role as a tutor. Even in the most extreme state-as-ultimate-authority jurisdiction, OP's role on these topics would be that of a reporter, not that of an authority.

The alternative to the parents being the authority, is that the state is, but the state has lied constantly about everything related to COVID and children so that would be far worse.

in Europe it’s mandatory to send your child to school - whether the parents want it or not.

No it's not. It's mandatory to educate them. Home schooling exists in Europe and parents who think teachers at a school are teaching children things that are wrong can do various things about it.

No home schooling exists in germany - all children must go to a state-approved school and that school must follow the standard curriculum. There are a handful of possible exceptions - serious illness for example - but in the general case it’s not legal and may result in (partial) loss of custody.

See for example https://www.lto.de/recht/nachrichten/n/olg-karlsruhe-5ufh322...

In Poland home shchooling is a thing. There are tens of thousands kids learning at home. They only need to come to school from time to time to do some tests. They have to pass mandatory exams after year 8 - for primary education and after year 12 for high school (yes, it is allowed to do high school education). To my best knowledge you do not have to provide any specific reasons why your kid is learning at home, the parents however need to provide evidence of theirs capacity to conduct that type of education.

So why did you say Europe when you meant Germany?

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