In the last issue of TOS, we discussed the CBS Evening News report called "The Dark Side of Homeschooling." After CBS broadcast that negative report last October, characterizing homeschoolers as potential child abusers, the network then ran a rather positive piece on its morning news broadcast, The Early Show. On January 30, 2004, The Early Show presented a segment entitled "Home for School, Out for Fun." The piece featured an interview with homeschooling parents Dan and Lori Hotek and portrayed their daughter, Lydia, playing on a homeschool team in a basketball game. The segment discussed several ways that homeschooling parents try to provide socialization for their children.

Hotek, a resident of Front Royal, Virginia, stressed that he primarily homeschools in order to provide a greater parental influence in his children's lives. Dan Hotek commented, "Just the issue of example is really a key, and for my children, I'd rather have them pattern their lives after my wife than I would someone else's young child."

Dr. Brian Ray, president of the National Home Education Research Institute, was also interviewed for the piece and was asked about the socialization issue. Ray cited recent research that indicated that homeschooled adults participated in community service organizations at a rate of 71 percent compared to 39 percent for the general public, and that adults who had been homeschooled attend college at a rate of 45 percent, compared to 19 percent for the general public. The research was funded by the Home School Legal Defense Association (HSLDA).

CBS News has never apologized for its past unfair portrayal of homeschoolers on the Evening News broadcast. Yet this morning's segment may be as close as they ever come. In an interview with The Old Schoolhouse last winter, Marc Morano of CNSNews.com indicated that he expected CBS to try to curry favor with the homeschool community by producing a positive "fluff" piece in the near future. Whatever the motive, we are grateful some positive truths about homeschooling were finally portrayed.

In the meantime, NBC has been behaving badly with regards to homeschool media issues. Of particular concern is the Law and Order family of shows. On February 17, Law and Order: Special Victims Unit aired an episode entitled "There's No Place Like Home." The episode featured a teen homeschooled boy who shot and killed his younger brother seeking to escape a domineering, paranoid homeschool mother. The mother convinced the teen to slay his brother and thus protect him from the "evil" foster care system which (the program implied) only sought to aid and protect him. The mother was finally revealed as a mentally ill sociopath.

Most homeschool families were probably not even aware of the episode, since the show itself has little socially redeeming value and is not normally viewed by discerning families. Yet many in the community at large do watch these shows. According to Ian Slatter, Director of Media Relations for HSLDA, homeschoolers can expect more of these subtle media attacks in the future. "Anyone who is outside the mainstream is ripe to be stereotyped, attacked, or used as an example," Slatter commented in a TOS interview.

This is not the first time that a Law and Order show has pinned the blame on a homeschooling parent. Last season, Law and Order: Criminal Intent aired an episode entitled "Bright Boy" in which a homeschooling father forces his son of average intelligence to abandon his dreams of baseball in order to torturously prepare for entrance into a prestigious school for prodigies. In the end, it is learned that the homeschooling father, eager to prove to the world that he is a success at creating a genius, kills a social worker who discovers the truth and tries to help the boy have a more normal social life.

Apparently Law and Order has run slap out of thieves and drug dealers to commit their crimes. The Law and Order jails will be filled with homeschooling parents at this rate.

Though shows such as these do not carry the same weight as news broadcasts do, they are viewed more often in reruns. The Law and Order episode that aired in February will likely air at least twice more this year and then will be part of a syndicated series. We urge you to contact the show and respectfully request that they remove the episode entitled "There's No Place Like Home" from its schedule of reruns. The email address for the show is LawOrderSVU@nbc.com.

Home School Legal Defense has already taken action on the issue. HSLDA president Michael Smith wrote a letter to Dick Wolf, the Executive Producer of Wolf Films, Inc. The letter reads in part:

As you know, this episode involved a homeschooling family where the mother convinced one of her children to shoot the other. Throughout the show, homeschooling was unrealistically portrayed as a haven for abuse and that children in the public school setting are in a "safety net," which keeps them from the harm which can be inflicted by parents who homeschool. There appeared to be little attempt at balance-

You need to understand that homeschooling is a minority that is misunderstood by many people. As such, it is susceptible to easily being stereotyped. Reinforcing a negative stereotype is harmful, not only to homeschooling families, but also to children in real need.

The complete letter can be found on the HSLDA website. The Old Schoolhouse Magazine will update this issue in the coming months.

Amelia Harper is author of Literary Lessons from the Lord of the Rings and a contributor to the J.R.R. Tolkien Encyclopedia. In November, she will be presenting a paper on "Worlds of Imagination in the Writings of Lewis and Tolkien" at a C.S. Lewis conference at Belmont University in Nashville, Tennessee. Watch for her review of The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe, which will be posted on the TOS website at www.TheHomeschoolMagazine.com in early December.