In the civilized world, children may attend “free” public school. In most parts, the law respects the freedom of the families to choose alternatives such as homeschooling. Here in Ontario, it is fairly hands-off; in other jurisdictions, bureaucrats scrutinize such arrangements. In a few places, this freedom does not exist at all. One case made the news recently: Quebec judge orders three-year-old into daycare for ‘socialization’

It sounds like an orwellian intrusion, but the news blurbs and blog firestorm don’t have much real information, so I went hunting just a tad. The most recent decision appears to be this one (2011 QCCQ 3929, Protection de la jeunesse – 11959). Online french-english translators appear to do a reasonable job, and the judgment takes only seventeen minutes to read.

It is a mixed bag. To some extent, the parents appear to be ignorant of the legal procedures involved (in their case, getting a waiver from the school board), and may have neglected to avail themselves of sufficient medical assistance (speech pathology etc.) for their children. On the other hand, the court repeatedly chastises the family for feeling persecuted (even though they have been for some time under the controlling microscope of the state), presumes that social exposure in a school setting is essential to help whatever problems actually exist, and lumps all the children into the same scheme, despite there being barely anything amiss with some of them. It may be justice, but it sure is messy.

The outcome is not final. The family has been assisted by the Home School Legal Defence Association.