Kudos for Homeschool Response to CBS... I just wanted to take a moment to thank everyone who took the time to respond to CBS's terrible homeschool story - see October Archives for full story and my responses. Capitalism Magazine did a recent story on what business people can learn from our response to CBS.

This is definitely worth a click. But the highlight from the article:

For homeschoolers, as for most businessmen, the real story - the government’s attacks on freedom through forced taxation and regulation, and the attempts by committed individuals to break away from the coercion—was buried under layers of obfuscation. There was a blatant attempt to link homeschooling with death, in the minds of viewers—as businessmen are now linked with crime.

But, in the case of homeschoolers, something went wrong. Instead of passively accepting that CBS had a “right” to defame anyone it wishes, the homeschoolers fought back. CBS news phone lines and email address were overwhelmed with protests against the program. As the President of the North Carolinians for Home Education (NCHE) wrote:

“There is room for difference of opinion, even principled opposition, towards homeschooling in the media; however, the selective reporting, misrepresentation, and insinuation used in this report cannot be tolerated. It is crucial that CBS, and others who are watching, understand that if they wish to choose a compliant group to slander in the name of their agenda, homeschoolers are the wrong ones to target.”

The key point is that homeschoolers refused to remain “compliant.” They reacted with forthright indignation to an assault on their independence. CBS News has been forced to deal with principled opposition, something they are not used to. This has forced them to actually deal with the homeschoolers, not merely to smear them with impunity.

Thanks for standing up for all of us!
Tenn