COMMENTARY: The Homeschooler and the PATRIOT Act

EDITORIAL COMMENT:

N.C. Homeschool News is an independent clearing house for news of interest to homeschoolers. As much as possible, the focus is on positive, constructive stories, to reflect the largely positive experience of homeschoolers in our state.

This is not always possible. Occasionally homeschoolers are swept into stories which are anything but positive. Sometimes the media treats homeschoolers unfairly, although years of watching news coverage of home education in our state suggests that homeschooling is generally seen in a tolerant light here.

Sometimes homeschoolers demonstrate they also suffer from the effects of Original Sin, and find themselves in the news for their own crimes and misjudgments. This is regrettable but unavoidable in a fallen world.

Then occasionally, a story will appear without enough information for outsiders to form a rational or discerning opinion. The case of Ashton Lundeby, an Oxford teenager arrested and held for allegedly issuing a bomb threat against Purdue University, is the current example. The family has given a plausible and verifiable alibi for the time of the crime, but authorities are prevented from commenting. The few facts available suggest that Lundeby's homeschooling status is only incidental to the case.

Initial reports said Lundeby was being held under the PATRIOT Act, sparking a great deal of comment and debate which is beyond the scope of this journal; the latest update appears to rule out this flashpoint issue.

N.C. Homeschool News will continue to monitor this case, and as useful information is added, may report on it again. Anything beyond this would simply be another blog, conjecturing.