We made a run for the closest unmanned border which was Haparanda the Swedish/Finnish border town.
This was not our plan but after reading the story of those poor parents who had their little boy kidnapped by the evil Swedish CPS as they were trying to leave the country, we decided to make a run for it.
This has messed up all our plans as we were not ready to leave, I still had a week of work left, we did not apply for holiday pay, we will not get to see my brother and his family in Stockholm or my Daughter Elysha and we are way off our original course BUT we have Marley and that's all that matters
It's been very emotional and we are very tired, we will spend a few days in Finland to get our selves together and then start planning which route we take from here.
We would like to say a BIG BIG BIG thank you for all the support from you AMAZING steemians. We really feel the love and it's really helped us get through this, without you all we would have felt very alone.
This is the story of a boy aged 7 being snatched from his parents as they tried to escape Sweden, their only crime was that they had chosen to homeschool their child, he is 14 now and still has not been returned, I do not have facebook but I believe they have a Facebook page you can support, once we have settled down I would like to do whatever I can to help these poor people and I would like to dedicate a lot of time to exposing this horror to the world, this is just one case that is known, there a plenty more that are not and I can't sleep at night knowing that this is going on. TIME TO TAKE ACTION!!!!!!
I am so deeply elated that you and your whole family made it out of Sweden. I can't imagine what it would have been like if Marley was taken from you. It really saddens me when I hear that the gov't would do something so cruel to the poor child. I can't even comprehend such a mean act to separate a child from the only family he/she has ever known. They say that they do it for the welfare of the child but their act is by far a billion times worse.
I am so sincerely relieved that you all made it out safely and together. I was so worried like the rest of the Steemit group about your ordeal. Please know that you did the right things to keep your family together. I wish you nothing but the best and a safe journey wherever you go. Keep the family together and be strong for the children because they are so vulnerable. Please take care Mark! Very best wishes for peace and happiness for you and your whole family! :D
Thank God you and all your family members are safely out of Sweden. Please know many people support your wish to be free of such govt tyranny. Best wishes for your future in Finland!
@markwhittam Germany is the worst. Parents can go to prison if they decide to homeschool and don't send their child to a regular school. Even a teenager who doesn't attend school could be send to prison.
yes, I couldn't believe when I heard all this about Germany.I have a German friend who is home schooling her son. The only way she gets away with it is because she's not registered anywhere in Germany and officially living abroad while living with her dad. They live in the country but even then has to lie to people constantly and tell them that she's only visiting. They live in constant fear to get caught so she uses the money she makes working from home to travel from and to Ireland as much as she can, so it's easier to stay under the radar. I couldn't imagine having to live like that, but somehow they seem to manage and the child is happy. Things aren't the same as they used to be here in Ireland either unfortunately. Assessment for homeschooling has gone from the department of education to the department for child protection, which gives it a completely different angle. For now things are still ok, but I feel pressure already and am looking at options out of here if we need to.
What a relief that you were able to bring your family to safety! It's evident that there's a world-wide Steemit community ready to back you as you continue your journey. 😀
Yes, we are cheering you on... keep us posted. Someday when Marley is old enough to understand, she will be in awe of her parents for fighting for her.
I'm so glad to see that you made it out in time. I know it sucks when plans change sometimes, especially if you miss out on seeing loved ones because of it. But as you said: you have Marley and that's what makes it all worth it. I've been thinking about you guys a lot since I read about your plans, so I was very happy to see this. It hasn't even been that long since I read the post in which you told us about your plans, but in this short time, things here have developed that made me think about our future here in Ireland and if we have one or even want one. Don't get me wrong, I love Ireland and it would break my heart to leave (forever) but I am starting to feel backed up against a wall and I am rethinking our options. I will possibly write about it soon, but right now I feel so drained, I can't even think straight. So I can understand that you are very tired right now. It's not something you just do every day. It's great to see that you have so many people behind you. This platform is a blessing. I wish you all the best on your journey, I know it will be great! Love & Peace
Thank you @misslasvegas it's so nice to have you and many other lovely steemians wishing us well and saying that they have been thinking about us.
I hope you never have to leave the land you love so dearly, it was hard for us but we are travelers anyway so moving is what we do, I can't imagine if we had a house and suddenly had to escape what it would feel like.
I think writing here on steemit about the whole fiasco has helped us a lot and we feel very lucky to have had so much support.
What a fantastic news. I think many of us were not sleeping well with your story. Well done! It is clear you have the whole amazing Steemit community behind you, let us know if we can help in further developments. Take care, i can go to sleep now :-)
Thank you @bubke
We definitely feel that we have the admiration, respect and support from this wonderful community called steemit :)
Thanks for your support and I am glad that none of us have to worry anymore.
Why not just send them to school? The choice is already made but really in seeing this its better to let them do their time in the child pen.
If the European Union reached it's logical conclusion of being a new United States of Europe, then people could not escape one bad system to go to another (probably bad) system. This is why Brexit was such a good thing. Anytime people have a choice to have their country escape the clutches of some super-state they should vote for that choice.
Haha child pen! That's exactly what it is which is why we want our children to be free, homeschooled/unschooled children are in most cases much more in tune with themselves and the planet.
I am a Britt so one of our options is to register us there, but the uk is the biggest floating prison on this planet which is why I left in the first place.
I do hope that now Brittain has left the EU that that things can go back to how they used to be.
Thanks for the interaction @leprechaun
REALLY GLAD TO HEAR THIS! I was getting concerned for you all.. well done for taking whatever action you felt was necessary.. it sounds like it was a really hard call.. but u made it..
I hope you find your path full of magic, miracles, wonder, and bliss!
<3
This video absolutely melts my heart!!!!! So happy that you are all chasing freedom together!
And what an atrocity that they've done to that family! Wow!
Wow that is amazing. The courage you have! But when it comes to our kids we can and will do anything and everything for them. Good luck with the rest of your journey and keep us updated!!
no it won't. I still believe in humanity. More and more are waking up. More people are affected in some way by the games the governments and people in power play. It may be hard, but that's life. These practices have to stop.
What a depressing story. The powerlessness of it all. How can the parents even function, not even being allowed to see thier child? The sad thing is that I know that persecution by the state could just as easily happen to me & my family in the UK (which might be why you left in the first place). We want to take our children travelling for a month next year, but of course, we have to ask permission from the school which they'll refuse & then pass our details onto the 'education liason officer' who will probably ask for a visit.
Good luck with everything. Hopefully there will be many positive & happy posts about your family & your life in the coming months.
Yes it's an unbelievable miscarriage of justice, how can the state justify abducting a child on the grounds that the parents want to homeschool, the sick thing is that when they went to court to tell the judge that they were moving to India and they didn't see the point in sending the boy to school for 6 weeks, the judge then said OK, fine, when do you plan on leaving, they let the family board the plane, made them think they were free and then snatched the boy :(
Good luck with getting permission to take YOUR child with you on your travels, I know they have started fining parents for each day missed.
that's unreal. So basically their child was taken because they told the truth and then misled and now tortured for all these years. This makes me so angry. These people aren't human and they would have made great Nazi SS a few years ago. I heard about the fining too. In Holland they fine parents too now I believe. When my daughter was 5 and we were living there, I asked for permission to get 2 extra weeks off at Christmas because the plan was to visit her grandmother and brother for the first time in her life, they had never met. I asked for those weeks, because it was cheaper to fly then and I couldn't afford to go in high season and since we couldn't do a trip like that any time soon again, I wanted it to be worth our while. As soon as the woman that was to hear me came in I already knew: it was a no go. Her words: 2 weeks was much too long for a 'family visit'. When I told her I thought it was important for my daughter to meet her older brother and grandmother, so it wasn't just an ordinary family visit, she replied that I should take her during the summer. When I told her the price to fly in the summer would rise from around 1500 for us two to about 3000 at least and that I couldn't afford that, she shrugged and said that it wasn't her problem. When I told her that it looked like only people with money could take their children on a holiday then, she shrugged again and that was that! The woman would have made an excellent SS officer too. The worst thing of it was that kids in Holland at the age of 5 don't really 'learn' yet, since it is kindergarten. They only paint, draw and do crafts. So in her opinion this was more important in a child's life than getting to know her family and maybe gain some self-confidence while meeting them. Besides a life-experience of travelling to a different country. It's insane.
This is ridiculous that you couldn't even take your child out of the programming system for a short time, it goes to show how much control they want from the very beginning :(
Yes, and they want it earlier too if possible. Here in Ireland they've been talking about making 'school' (pre-school or playschool...the first gives me the creeps just hearing it) possible for toddlers at the age of 2! Their sales pitch is to 'make education available to children at this age to assure children are up to speed to keep up later in 'real' school. It is mainly aimed at children of lower income families. I see it as another way for them to have child protection step in where they feel they need to stick their noses. When it comes to that, they will probably find something wrong with the family (single parent families, too alternative, too rural, too independent, you name it: they'll find something wrong with anyone) and another step closer to them deciding what's in your child's best interest. So I'm working on a plan B myself. I am not going to sit around and wait to see it implemented.
Wow...you are a great leader..the leader of your family. Let no other tell you what's best for your family. You know what's best. As long as you are together, the destination is not as important. Yes, plans have been disrupted, but you will find the bypass. We are all behind you!!!
Horrible, you're basically forced to live in their system, like it or not. What a robbing of individual rights. Hope you all find your way safely and together. Good luck with your journey and at least at the end of the day you did what was best for your family.
This makes me very happy. I was just talking about this with a friend. I was surprised when I read your first post that homeschooling is illegal there. Im feeling rather off today so I will keep this short but makes me very happy you made it out of Switzerland.
how wonderful mark!
to see you and all your kids in a bunch!
you are free. yay!
i must admit, when i first saw your posts,
planning your escape, i thought, wow
i hope the government spies are not reading this.
so i am glad you took no chances
and are out of sweden.
when we were home edding
we had friends living in germany
relocationg elsewhere
as they were in danger also
we read of a number of families
torn apart in germany.
i am so very very happy for you and family.
i wish you all many many blessings
now and always
happy days!
Thank you Marion, we are glad to be away from all that now, and we shall not return until we are Portuguese citizens or something like that.
We are having fun in Finland and We will not let them brake our spirit.
Hi Mark so good to your face and you and the sweet kids are smiling :)
I have been thinking about you and hoped for the best.
AND you got IT :)
Yeeeeeeeehaaaaaaaaaaaa
I think you done the right thing, by not waiting any longer.
Money can be replaced and I think your family will understand.
Discord has a webcam option now aswell so thats a great way to stay in touch.
You may be of course but on the positive side you get to see Finland now :)
Maybe this is the route the universe had planned for you :)
So I hope you will meet a lot of friendly people like yourself.
It is a disgrace that you had to leave your country for this and go through all these emotions.
Your all safe now, so relax and enjoy your freedom :)
Thank god, finally you have reached to the safe place. I was warrid about you and your family friend, I have no idea about your govt rules, it is good that nothing wrong happened to you and your sweet children. They look, very cute in the video .I will prey for you, please take care of yourself and your family mainly kids. Sweet kisses to your sweetest kids from Maya. God bless you.
I am so happy to hear that you all are safe. May your journey lead you to a homeschooling friendly nation where you can parent your child rather than meet the government's expectations.
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Incidentally I have lost a lot of respect for Sweden.
There are some lines that should not ever be crossed - and State interference with a functioning family not short of love is fully worthy of condemnation... T_T
I am angry because not everybody's story ends well. I wonder if your family qualifies for political asylum or some such status (kind of depends on whether there is a non government organization who profits off of such).
That could be possible, the Romeike family from German was granted asylum in the USA on the grounds of not being allowed to homeschool in their home country. This was not an easy process for them and I do not think that would be a good idea for @markwhittam and family. It is still legal to homeschool in most European countries, only Sweden and Germany have a total ban on all forms of homeschooling. They should be fine in Portugal or can stay in Finland, where at least 14 other Swedish families have "fled" in order to continue to homeschool their children.
I homeschooled my sons who are now grown. That would have been a nightmare situation to have your child taken. Blessings on your journey and keeping your family safe. Following
$@$&Y(#&$)(#@&$#@$(&#@(!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
I just don't know what to say besides this world is truly F$*#$&
I am grateful you are wise to the diabolical plan to destroy all freedom and you are making empowered choices for the betterment of your and your families life!
If you ever need anything please let me know. I am here for you. Are you still planning to be at SteemFest?
It's shocking what is going on now in Sweden and Germany, it seems people have lost all their rights when it comes to their own children, I would go as far to say that they are not even our children anymore, the state owns them and will go to any lengths to claim their property.
We are glad to be out with OUR children, and we shall never go back as long as we are Swedish citizens.
Thanks for the offer of support, we have received so much love and support from this community and we feel honored to be a part of it.
This is what I was just writing on your previous post for you.
"Ever since our first child was born we knew that would never send them to school, but we also knew that it's illegal to home educate your children in Sweden"
That's an extract of what you said on your another post. When you decide to give your child a citizenship, you are accepting that they'll be receiving the rights and responsibilities coming from that country (Sweden, on this case). You say you knew it was illegal, so then why you decided to give her the citizenship? You could have planned to have her born on another country that allows you to home educate. Nevertheless, you didn't because, as you say, you love Sweden and wanted to rise your childrens here.
I have to agree with the government. As any other citizen, they are giving your child protection, backed by the law, not only from everyone else, but also from having bad parents. They are giving your child rights, and in those rights they are protected from people like you who believe a mother can teach better than a ready-for-service college.
If you wanted to "be free", you had to start by fully leaving the system, but as a whole and not partially as you want. Stop working, stop using money, stop using internet. All those things are part of the system, and you cannot just choose which laws to follow because that's not how they work. You can not decide wich ones to accept and which ones not, IF ANYONE could do that, it would be CHAOTIC. You either agree with the laws in your country, or leave and find another one according to your mind (if they even allow you to move there).
You had so many years to leave and you didn't, now that you have no time you start to worry about THE PROBLEM YOU IGNORED FOR YEARS. I'm sorry, but you sound like terrible parents for me, waiting until the very last to make a move you had to do years ago. Who knows what else have you done (or not done) to your childrens? Do they even have all their vaccines? You make me wonder that by reading all the stuff you say on your posts. You sound like those crazy parents who believe vaccines are an invention from the pharmaceutical industry and government to earn money, so they dont vaccinate their childrens and then cry when their kid dies from a disease that could have been prevented with a vaccine.
Your child has the right to go to school like any other kid in your country, and you're not letting her enjoy that right. Said that, OBVIOUSLY they have to watch for your kid, you're breaking one of her rights, and breaking her rights is child abuse. Does that answer your question about "how is it child abuse?"?
Sweden gave you rights and responsibilities, and also gives you protection outside the country, they watch for you. Imagine what would happen to you if you didn't have a citizenship? Well, if you don't, you won't have anyone to care about you. Your country gives you medical service, education, protection, and summarized, gives you rights... But to have all of them, you have to agree with the responsibilities. And one of them is to send your kids to the school. Is it really that bad? Other countries force you to send your childs to war if needed, and you're crying because they don't want your kid to be an ignorant? Because they want your kid to learn to read? To write? To become a scientist? A medic? To become useful for humanity? They're spending money on you and your kid, obviously they expect something in exchange. But that's not as bad as it sounds, it is required for a country to thrive. Also, that's one of the reasons that made Sweden to become a first world country.
I live in México, and though education is a right, we don't have an organism like child protection to watch that every kid in our country goes to school. We actually do, but they don't really do their job. And we don't have enough schools for all the kids we have. Your country is, by far, way better than mine and all the countries in LatAm. You're blessed by being born there, and you're unhappy by a stupid reason. Your family doesn't need what you're bringing to them. You either leave your country now and do whatever you want in a country that allows you to, or for god's sake send them to school.
Now that you say you left your country I just really hope your childs are raised well, and that they don't have to run and hide like criminals just because they had weird and crazy parents. And I really laugh at how you're worried about "not being paid holidays", just what I've said on my whole post. You like and want to enjoy the rights of being Swedish, but you don't want the responsibilities that come from them.
Really makes me wonder if you are a shill. Hmmm...
Ah, the joys of the imposed government "contracts" that we're bound to by birth without ever seeing or signing. Sure, you can steal my children if I don't let you brainwash them! Go ahead and take half of my money if I manage to start a successful business of some sort. You want fries with that?
Get real, pal. Government has gotten worse around the world. It's time to move beyond them, however we can.
I laugh at your silly argument and thinly-veiled insults. My insults aren't veiled at all; you suck.
@mavva you are in titled to your opinion.
I have so much I want to say to you but I do not want to argue with anyone here, so I will hold back and ask you to kindly read someone else's post that you enjoy and agree with instead.
Glad to read that you have left. However I imagine that you are seeking to immigrate, I would like to read about that process. We can home school here and that is exactly what I intend to do. @mavva is a troll, you are right to ignore useful idiots like that.
Amen, @markwhittam@aboutyourbiz and @ladyrebeca. Hope mavva finds some other posts they can enjoy without spewing the vomitous ignorance around a topic they clearly know nothing about. Let them bask in the glory of their enslavement and intolerance for freedom.
And if I may quote Larken Rose on this one: “Some of us realize the self-evident truth that no election, no constitution, no legislation, and no other pseudo-religious political ritual can bestow upon anyone the right to rule another. Nothing can make a man into a rightful master; nothing can make a man into a rightful slave.”
I understand your point and I definitely agree on the controversy of leaving one's country on the one hand and trying to get some social money on the other. The line of in and out of a "system" is though a blurry line and doing it like you propose is not achievable, you can not travel around without papers for example. No bank account is also not easy.
For me, the essence of this article is about freedom and especially the choice of homeschooling or sending them to school. Schools might be a luxury for some, I agree but once schools are obligatory and you start to realise how schools change your child in a way you don't want, how the child looses interest in studying because of the school, how the child is actually wasting 80% of his/her time in these schools, then you might want something else. It is too late in that moment to decide this from birth-time of the child, you want the freedom and right to change, that should be accepted! With love
Thank you @bubke for your insight.
Regarding the benefits, I pay 53% income tax and then 25% tax on everything I buy, I pay about 40.000 Euro a year in taxes and I see it as my God given right to be able to claim a very small part of that money back that has been robbed from me over the last ten years.
It might seem a bit cheeky but I believe I am entitled to that money, but as it turns out I didn't get a chance to claim it so it look like they won.
Im not being funny, I just felt as though I needed to clear that up. :)
Exactly what do you mean by "weird and crazy parents"? People who want to educate their children the way they see right are "weird and crazy" ?
Since you're new here, I will grant you the benefit of doubt and just suggest you do some reading on homeschooling. There is a strong community of homeschoolers here.
Also, bear in mind that trolling is not much appreciated round here.
With a long and explained reply, how dare you to say I'm "trolling"?
I used those 2 words because that's what they look to me, and pretty much explained on the vaccines sentence. They think and act like conspiracists. They prefer to escape their country like criminals rather than sending their kids to the hell called school. Because everyone knows that school will automatically turn their kids into robots ready to follow commands with no ability to question. Oh, wait, that's exactly what school wants to avoid. You can now call me "troll" for using sarcasm.
In my opinion, they're doing more psychological harm to their kids with their current actions than what the "horrible" government wants. Once again, they had a lot of time to prepare themselves before being troubled in this situation, they already knew homeschooling is illegal as they claimed in one of their posts. And what do you expect to happen when you do something illegal?
There was no need for the "run and hide" and witch hunt they're making the kids experience. I don't know if it's applicable in Sweden but the government now could even freeze their passports under the premise of child abuse, and make things worse for their family.
I am so deeply elated that you and your whole family made it out of Sweden. I can't imagine what it would have been like if Marley was taken from you. It really saddens me when I hear that the gov't would do something so cruel to the poor child. I can't even comprehend such a mean act to separate a child from the only family he/she has ever known. They say that they do it for the welfare of the child but their act is by far a billion times worse.
I am so sincerely relieved that you all made it out safely and together. I was so worried like the rest of the Steemit group about your ordeal. Please know that you did the right things to keep your family together. I wish you nothing but the best and a safe journey wherever you go. Keep the family together and be strong for the children because they are so vulnerable. Please take care Mark! Very best wishes for peace and happiness for you and your whole family! :D
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Thank you @cabbagepatch for such a heartwarming message, we are very thankful to have such support from all you lovely people.
It is outrageous that this type of injustice is happening on a daily basis and I can not imagine what the parents of Domenic must be going through.
Thanks again for your support.
Bless.
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Mark, I am so happy for you and your family. Be safe, be together and be happy. Again, please take care of yourself and your family! :D
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Thank God you and all your family members are safely out of Sweden. Please know many people support your wish to be free of such govt tyranny. Best wishes for your future in Finland!
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Hey Mark, hope my upvote helps your family.
Much love from equally oppressing Germany.
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Thank you @lcshaft
Yes I have heard it's a similar story in Germany and I can't believe it.
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@markwhittam Germany is the worst. Parents can go to prison if they decide to homeschool and don't send their child to a regular school. Even a teenager who doesn't attend school could be send to prison.
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yes sadly this is true. I talk often about these matters as there is nothing more important than freedom.
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yes, I couldn't believe when I heard all this about Germany.I have a German friend who is home schooling her son. The only way she gets away with it is because she's not registered anywhere in Germany and officially living abroad while living with her dad. They live in the country but even then has to lie to people constantly and tell them that she's only visiting. They live in constant fear to get caught so she uses the money she makes working from home to travel from and to Ireland as much as she can, so it's easier to stay under the radar. I couldn't imagine having to live like that, but somehow they seem to manage and the child is happy. Things aren't the same as they used to be here in Ireland either unfortunately. Assessment for homeschooling has gone from the department of education to the department for child protection, which gives it a completely different angle. For now things are still ok, but I feel pressure already and am looking at options out of here if we need to.
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What a relief that you were able to bring your family to safety! It's evident that there's a world-wide Steemit community ready to back you as you continue your journey. 😀
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Thank you @karencarrens it really does feel like we have an army of steemians cheering us on the whole way and we really do feel so blessed :)
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Yes, we are cheering you on... keep us posted. Someday when Marley is old enough to understand, she will be in awe of her parents for fighting for her.
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I'm so glad to see that you made it out in time. I know it sucks when plans change sometimes, especially if you miss out on seeing loved ones because of it. But as you said: you have Marley and that's what makes it all worth it. I've been thinking about you guys a lot since I read about your plans, so I was very happy to see this. It hasn't even been that long since I read the post in which you told us about your plans, but in this short time, things here have developed that made me think about our future here in Ireland and if we have one or even want one. Don't get me wrong, I love Ireland and it would break my heart to leave (forever) but I am starting to feel backed up against a wall and I am rethinking our options. I will possibly write about it soon, but right now I feel so drained, I can't even think straight. So I can understand that you are very tired right now. It's not something you just do every day. It's great to see that you have so many people behind you. This platform is a blessing. I wish you all the best on your journey, I know it will be great! Love & Peace
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Thank you @misslasvegas it's so nice to have you and many other lovely steemians wishing us well and saying that they have been thinking about us.
I hope you never have to leave the land you love so dearly, it was hard for us but we are travelers anyway so moving is what we do, I can't imagine if we had a house and suddenly had to escape what it would feel like.
I think writing here on steemit about the whole fiasco has helped us a lot and we feel very lucky to have had so much support.
Thanks for the interaction
Bless.
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What a fantastic news. I think many of us were not sleeping well with your story. Well done! It is clear you have the whole amazing Steemit community behind you, let us know if we can help in further developments. Take care, i can go to sleep now :-)
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Thank you @bubke
We definitely feel that we have the admiration, respect and support from this wonderful community called steemit :)
Thanks for your support and I am glad that none of us have to worry anymore.
Bless.
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Why not just send them to school? The choice is already made but really in seeing this its better to let them do their time in the child pen.
If the European Union reached it's logical conclusion of being a new United States of Europe, then people could not escape one bad system to go to another (probably bad) system. This is why Brexit was such a good thing. Anytime people have a choice to have their country escape the clutches of some super-state they should vote for that choice.
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Haha child pen! That's exactly what it is which is why we want our children to be free, homeschooled/unschooled children are in most cases much more in tune with themselves and the planet.
I am a Britt so one of our options is to register us there, but the uk is the biggest floating prison on this planet which is why I left in the first place.
I do hope that now Brittain has left the EU that that things can go back to how they used to be.
Thanks for the interaction @leprechaun
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REALLY GLAD TO HEAR THIS! I was getting concerned for you all.. well done for taking whatever action you felt was necessary.. it sounds like it was a really hard call.. but u made it..
I hope you find your path full of magic, miracles, wonder, and bliss!
<3
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This video absolutely melts my heart!!!!! So happy that you are all chasing freedom together!
And what an atrocity that they've done to that family! Wow!
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Yayyyyyy @acrobutterfly is back, we missed you :) Thank u for the lovely compliment :)
Yes it is unbelievable what they have done to this and many other families who choose to teach their own children. :(
Bless.
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Awe I miss missed you too! Yes i was just so busy with the real world, but I'm excited to keep building community here :)
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Wow that is amazing. The courage you have! But when it comes to our kids we can and will do anything and everything for them. Good luck with the rest of your journey and keep us updated!!
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meep
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Thank you @aidanblue we feel very lucky to have all your support.
Bless.
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what a crazy whole world..
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Yes @rebeccabe it really does seem that way, I wonder how it will be in 10yrs from now, freedom will be wiped of the face of the plane at this rate.
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no it won't. I still believe in humanity. More and more are waking up. More people are affected in some way by the games the governments and people in power play. It may be hard, but that's life. These practices have to stop.
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What a depressing story. The powerlessness of it all. How can the parents even function, not even being allowed to see thier child? The sad thing is that I know that persecution by the state could just as easily happen to me & my family in the UK (which might be why you left in the first place). We want to take our children travelling for a month next year, but of course, we have to ask permission from the school which they'll refuse & then pass our details onto the 'education liason officer' who will probably ask for a visit.
Good luck with everything. Hopefully there will be many positive & happy posts about your family & your life in the coming months.
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Yes it's an unbelievable miscarriage of justice, how can the state justify abducting a child on the grounds that the parents want to homeschool, the sick thing is that when they went to court to tell the judge that they were moving to India and they didn't see the point in sending the boy to school for 6 weeks, the judge then said OK, fine, when do you plan on leaving, they let the family board the plane, made them think they were free and then snatched the boy :(
Good luck with getting permission to take YOUR child with you on your travels, I know they have started fining parents for each day missed.
Thanks for the interaction @jimbobbill
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that's unreal. So basically their child was taken because they told the truth and then misled and now tortured for all these years. This makes me so angry. These people aren't human and they would have made great Nazi SS a few years ago. I heard about the fining too. In Holland they fine parents too now I believe. When my daughter was 5 and we were living there, I asked for permission to get 2 extra weeks off at Christmas because the plan was to visit her grandmother and brother for the first time in her life, they had never met. I asked for those weeks, because it was cheaper to fly then and I couldn't afford to go in high season and since we couldn't do a trip like that any time soon again, I wanted it to be worth our while. As soon as the woman that was to hear me came in I already knew: it was a no go. Her words: 2 weeks was much too long for a 'family visit'. When I told her I thought it was important for my daughter to meet her older brother and grandmother, so it wasn't just an ordinary family visit, she replied that I should take her during the summer. When I told her the price to fly in the summer would rise from around 1500 for us two to about 3000 at least and that I couldn't afford that, she shrugged and said that it wasn't her problem. When I told her that it looked like only people with money could take their children on a holiday then, she shrugged again and that was that! The woman would have made an excellent SS officer too. The worst thing of it was that kids in Holland at the age of 5 don't really 'learn' yet, since it is kindergarten. They only paint, draw and do crafts. So in her opinion this was more important in a child's life than getting to know her family and maybe gain some self-confidence while meeting them. Besides a life-experience of travelling to a different country. It's insane.
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This is ridiculous that you couldn't even take your child out of the programming system for a short time, it goes to show how much control they want from the very beginning :(
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Yes, and they want it earlier too if possible. Here in Ireland they've been talking about making 'school' (pre-school or playschool...the first gives me the creeps just hearing it) possible for toddlers at the age of 2! Their sales pitch is to 'make education available to children at this age to assure children are up to speed to keep up later in 'real' school. It is mainly aimed at children of lower income families. I see it as another way for them to have child protection step in where they feel they need to stick their noses. When it comes to that, they will probably find something wrong with the family (single parent families, too alternative, too rural, too independent, you name it: they'll find something wrong with anyone) and another step closer to them deciding what's in your child's best interest. So I'm working on a plan B myself. I am not going to sit around and wait to see it implemented.
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Wow...you are a great leader..the leader of your family. Let no other tell you what's best for your family. You know what's best. As long as you are together, the destination is not as important. Yes, plans have been disrupted, but you will find the bypass. We are all behind you!!!
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Thank you @tamaralovelace for your support, yes you are right, we are together and that's all that counts. Destination freedom here we come :)
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Steem on!!!
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I am so happy to hear this news! Been thinking of you guys today and was wondering what had happened!
💓💓💓💓
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Thank you @princessmewmew, we are happy to be out :) it's freedom from now on.
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That's amazing. And well done for not challenging their laws.
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Horrible, you're basically forced to live in their system, like it or not. What a robbing of individual rights. Hope you all find your way safely and together. Good luck with your journey and at least at the end of the day you did what was best for your family.
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Thank you @americana-reboot it feels as though we have done the right thing, I can't imagine staying and giving in to their demands.
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This is the best news ever.
Your family is safe and the gov can suck eggs. haha
Now you can go anywhere you like!
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Thank you @oddnugget, we do feel as though we got one over on the slimy scumbags, I just feel sorry for the people that are left there.
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I really enjoyed your post, thank you for sharing with us. Enjoy the vote!
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What a beautiful family. God bless you bro!
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Thank you @kafkanarchy84 your comment goes a long way, trust me :)
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This makes me very happy. I was just talking about this with a friend. I was surprised when I read your first post that homeschooling is illegal there. Im feeling rather off today so I will keep this short but makes me very happy you made it out of Switzerland.
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i wish stay blessed your family ever ...
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how wonderful mark!
to see you and all your kids in a bunch!
you are free. yay!
i must admit, when i first saw your posts,
planning your escape, i thought, wow
i hope the government spies are not reading this.
so i am glad you took no chances
and are out of sweden.
when we were home edding
we had friends living in germany
relocationg elsewhere
as they were in danger also
we read of a number of families
torn apart in germany.
i am so very very happy for you and family.
i wish you all many many blessings
now and always
happy days!
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Thank you Marion, we are glad to be away from all that now, and we shall not return until we are Portuguese citizens or something like that.
We are having fun in Finland and We will not let them brake our spirit.
Bless.
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Hi Mark so good to your face and you and the sweet kids are smiling :)
I have been thinking about you and hoped for the best.
AND you got IT :)
Yeeeeeeeehaaaaaaaaaaaa
I think you done the right thing, by not waiting any longer.
Money can be replaced and I think your family will understand.
Discord has a webcam option now aswell so thats a great way to stay in touch.
You may be of course but on the positive side you get to see Finland now :)
Maybe this is the route the universe had planned for you :)
So I hope you will meet a lot of friendly people like yourself.
It is a disgrace that you had to leave your country for this and go through all these emotions.
Your all safe now, so relax and enjoy your freedom :)
Hugssssss for the family !
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Thank god, finally you have reached to the safe place. I was warrid about you and your family friend, I have no idea about your govt rules, it is good that nothing wrong happened to you and your sweet children. They look, very cute in the video .I will prey for you, please take care of yourself and your family mainly kids. Sweet kisses to your sweetest kids from Maya. God bless you.
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Thank goodness! Perhaps you can also share any other tips for future parents in Sweden?
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I am so happy to hear that you all are safe. May your journey lead you to a homeschooling friendly nation where you can parent your child rather than meet the government's expectations.
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It sucks to have to pick up and leave the way you did but the possible outcome was too much to take a risk. A lot can happen in a week.
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Yes @boodles17 it was too much of a risk to hang about and I am glad we did it.
Bless.
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really
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This post has been ranked within the top 50 most undervalued posts in the first half of Aug 22. We estimate that this post is undervalued by $13.96 as compared to a scenario in which every voter had an equal say.
See the full rankings and details in The Daily Tribune: Aug 22 - Part I. You can also read about some of our methodology, data analysis and technical details in our initial post.
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Best of luck.
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Thank for sharing your story with us.
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Que buena noticia, me alegra mucho saber esto! Felicidades!
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Wow! What a HUGE, HUGE relief! So glad you are all together and safe. God bless! :)
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Incidentally I have lost a lot of respect for Sweden.
There are some lines that should not ever be crossed - and State interference with a functioning family not short of love is fully worthy of condemnation... T_T
I am angry because not everybody's story ends well. I wonder if your family qualifies for political asylum or some such status (kind of depends on whether there is a non government organization who profits off of such).
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That could be possible, the Romeike family from German was granted asylum in the USA on the grounds of not being allowed to homeschool in their home country. This was not an easy process for them and I do not think that would be a good idea for @markwhittam and family. It is still legal to homeschool in most European countries, only Sweden and Germany have a total ban on all forms of homeschooling. They should be fine in Portugal or can stay in Finland, where at least 14 other Swedish families have "fled" in order to continue to homeschool their children.
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Glad to hear you're out and well! All the best
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I am very happy to hear that you made it.
I know that you had more elaborate plans made - but yeah... State-kidnapping doesn't sound like fun. :c|
And all this in a struggle as to what kind of education a child is to enjoy or endure.
I was recently triggered by a short education-related video. I think that you made the right choice.
All the best in your new life! ope that you will be able to sort things out with your old employer also.
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I homeschooled my sons who are now grown. That would have been a nightmare situation to have your child taken. Blessings on your journey and keeping your family safe. Following
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This post received a 2.7% upvote from @randowhale thanks to @theblindsquirl! For more information, click here!
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$@$&Y(#&$)(#@&$#@$(&#@(!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
I just don't know what to say besides this world is truly F$*#$&
I am grateful you are wise to the diabolical plan to destroy all freedom and you are making empowered choices for the betterment of your and your families life!
If you ever need anything please let me know. I am here for you. Are you still planning to be at SteemFest?
Blessings to you and your family~*~
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It's shocking what is going on now in Sweden and Germany, it seems people have lost all their rights when it comes to their own children, I would go as far to say that they are not even our children anymore, the state owns them and will go to any lengths to claim their property.
We are glad to be out with OUR children, and we shall never go back as long as we are Swedish citizens.
Thanks for the offer of support, we have received so much love and support from this community and we feel honored to be a part of it.
Thanks @quinneaker
Oh and yes, steemfest is most definitely still on :)
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Yes it is a very sad state of affairs. Grateful you have navigated it safely and feel at peace.
Hope to see you soon at SteemFest!
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Thank you for being such courageous parents ! We need that kind of stories to be stronger in front of the administrations And stupid laws.
Thank you !
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This is what I was just writing on your previous post for you.
"Ever since our first child was born we knew that would never send them to school, but we also knew that it's illegal to home educate your children in Sweden"
That's an extract of what you said on your another post. When you decide to give your child a citizenship, you are accepting that they'll be receiving the rights and responsibilities coming from that country (Sweden, on this case). You say you knew it was illegal, so then why you decided to give her the citizenship? You could have planned to have her born on another country that allows you to home educate. Nevertheless, you didn't because, as you say, you love Sweden and wanted to rise your childrens here.
I have to agree with the government. As any other citizen, they are giving your child protection, backed by the law, not only from everyone else, but also from having bad parents. They are giving your child rights, and in those rights they are protected from people like you who believe a mother can teach better than a ready-for-service college.
If you wanted to "be free", you had to start by fully leaving the system, but as a whole and not partially as you want. Stop working, stop using money, stop using internet. All those things are part of the system, and you cannot just choose which laws to follow because that's not how they work. You can not decide wich ones to accept and which ones not, IF ANYONE could do that, it would be CHAOTIC. You either agree with the laws in your country, or leave and find another one according to your mind (if they even allow you to move there).
You had so many years to leave and you didn't, now that you have no time you start to worry about THE PROBLEM YOU IGNORED FOR YEARS. I'm sorry, but you sound like terrible parents for me, waiting until the very last to make a move you had to do years ago. Who knows what else have you done (or not done) to your childrens? Do they even have all their vaccines? You make me wonder that by reading all the stuff you say on your posts. You sound like those crazy parents who believe vaccines are an invention from the pharmaceutical industry and government to earn money, so they dont vaccinate their childrens and then cry when their kid dies from a disease that could have been prevented with a vaccine.
Your child has the right to go to school like any other kid in your country, and you're not letting her enjoy that right. Said that, OBVIOUSLY they have to watch for your kid, you're breaking one of her rights, and breaking her rights is child abuse. Does that answer your question about "how is it child abuse?"?
Sweden gave you rights and responsibilities, and also gives you protection outside the country, they watch for you. Imagine what would happen to you if you didn't have a citizenship? Well, if you don't, you won't have anyone to care about you. Your country gives you medical service, education, protection, and summarized, gives you rights... But to have all of them, you have to agree with the responsibilities. And one of them is to send your kids to the school. Is it really that bad? Other countries force you to send your childs to war if needed, and you're crying because they don't want your kid to be an ignorant? Because they want your kid to learn to read? To write? To become a scientist? A medic? To become useful for humanity? They're spending money on you and your kid, obviously they expect something in exchange. But that's not as bad as it sounds, it is required for a country to thrive. Also, that's one of the reasons that made Sweden to become a first world country.
I live in México, and though education is a right, we don't have an organism like child protection to watch that every kid in our country goes to school. We actually do, but they don't really do their job. And we don't have enough schools for all the kids we have. Your country is, by far, way better than mine and all the countries in LatAm. You're blessed by being born there, and you're unhappy by a stupid reason. Your family doesn't need what you're bringing to them. You either leave your country now and do whatever you want in a country that allows you to, or for god's sake send them to school.
Now that you say you left your country I just really hope your childs are raised well, and that they don't have to run and hide like criminals just because they had weird and crazy parents. And I really laugh at how you're worried about "not being paid holidays", just what I've said on my whole post. You like and want to enjoy the rights of being Swedish, but you don't want the responsibilities that come from them.
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Lol at the level of indoctrination here.
Really makes me wonder if you are a shill. Hmmm...
Ah, the joys of the imposed government "contracts" that we're bound to by birth without ever seeing or signing. Sure, you can steal my children if I don't let you brainwash them! Go ahead and take half of my money if I manage to start a successful business of some sort. You want fries with that?
Get real, pal. Government has gotten worse around the world. It's time to move beyond them, however we can.
I laugh at your silly argument and thinly-veiled insults. My insults aren't veiled at all; you suck.
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Thank you @oddnugget I really didn't feel like unleashing on this fool, and I see now that I don't have to :)
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:) Un placer.
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@mavva you are in titled to your opinion.
I have so much I want to say to you but I do not want to argue with anyone here, so I will hold back and ask you to kindly read someone else's post that you enjoy and agree with instead.
Peace and love to the world
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Glad to read that you have left. However I imagine that you are seeking to immigrate, I would like to read about that process. We can home school here and that is exactly what I intend to do. @mavva is a troll, you are right to ignore useful idiots like that.
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Amen, @markwhittam @aboutyourbiz and @ladyrebeca. Hope mavva finds some other posts they can enjoy without spewing the vomitous ignorance around a topic they clearly know nothing about. Let them bask in the glory of their enslavement and intolerance for freedom.
And if I may quote Larken Rose on this one: “Some of us realize the self-evident truth that no election, no constitution, no legislation, and no other pseudo-religious political ritual can bestow upon anyone the right to rule another. Nothing can make a man into a rightful master; nothing can make a man into a rightful slave.”
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Thank you @cm1 it's good to see nobody agrees with this person.
I do wonder if he or she got lost and thought they were on Twitter or something.
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Excellent! Well said.
We homeschool our children, too. I'm very happy to hear that you accomplished your short-term goal of leaving Sweden.
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I understand your point and I definitely agree on the controversy of leaving one's country on the one hand and trying to get some social money on the other. The line of in and out of a "system" is though a blurry line and doing it like you propose is not achievable, you can not travel around without papers for example. No bank account is also not easy.
For me, the essence of this article is about freedom and especially the choice of homeschooling or sending them to school. Schools might be a luxury for some, I agree but once schools are obligatory and you start to realise how schools change your child in a way you don't want, how the child looses interest in studying because of the school, how the child is actually wasting 80% of his/her time in these schools, then you might want something else. It is too late in that moment to decide this from birth-time of the child, you want the freedom and right to change, that should be accepted! With love
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Thank you @bubke for your insight.
Regarding the benefits, I pay 53% income tax and then 25% tax on everything I buy, I pay about 40.000 Euro a year in taxes and I see it as my God given right to be able to claim a very small part of that money back that has been robbed from me over the last ten years.
It might seem a bit cheeky but I believe I am entitled to that money, but as it turns out I didn't get a chance to claim it so it look like they won.
Im not being funny, I just felt as though I needed to clear that up. :)
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Exactly what do you mean by "weird and crazy parents"? People who want to educate their children the way they see right are "weird and crazy" ?
Since you're new here, I will grant you the benefit of doubt and just suggest you do some reading on homeschooling. There is a strong community of homeschoolers here.
Also, bear in mind that trolling is not much appreciated round here.
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With a long and explained reply, how dare you to say I'm "trolling"?
I used those 2 words because that's what they look to me, and pretty much explained on the vaccines sentence. They think and act like conspiracists. They prefer to escape their country like criminals rather than sending their kids to the hell called school. Because everyone knows that school will automatically turn their kids into robots ready to follow commands with no ability to question. Oh, wait, that's exactly what school wants to avoid. You can now call me "troll" for using sarcasm.
In my opinion, they're doing more psychological harm to their kids with their current actions than what the "horrible" government wants. Once again, they had a lot of time to prepare themselves before being troubled in this situation, they already knew homeschooling is illegal as they claimed in one of their posts. And what do you expect to happen when you do something illegal?
There was no need for the "run and hide" and witch hunt they're making the kids experience. I don't know if it's applicable in Sweden but the government now could even freeze their passports under the premise of child abuse, and make things worse for their family.
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Rather judgmental of you. And rights don't come from the state. The states job MAY be to protect your rights, but it does not GIVE you rights.
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