Pat A. Neusch, an instructor at Westover Park Junior High School, has written, "Are typical parents up to task of homeschooling kids?" This is an opinion piece published in the Amarillo Globe News. Ms. Neusch takes the liberty of freely twisting and misquoting my words in, "Is Homeschool for You?" to meet her own needs.
Ignoring the rest of her article and picking up where "Beverly Hernandez" enters the scene, you'll find the first offense of the misrepresentations:
"informs parents that homeschooling is usually difficult and shouldn't be taken lightly."
From my article:
"Making the decision to homeschool is usually very difficult and not one to be taken lightly."
Another misquote that gets under my skin is under the section, Intimidated by the teaching:
"There are curriculum and teacher materials available to help with planning and teaching; however, a parent with a limited education needs to look at the situation realistically."
From my article:
"If you can read and write, you should be able to teach your children. The curriculum and teacher materials will help through the planning and teaching. Get help from others if you get stuck or hire tutors for the difficult subjects."
The other quotes are not as offensive as these two, but the subtle changes are just as dangerous when intertwined with Ms. Neusch's underlying theme. It is clear that the author is trying to use my article to deter parents from homeschooling their children. The tone of the rewording of my article by Ms. Neusch steers away from the intended spirit of my article and takes on a whole new twisted meaning that I don't agree with, nor appreciate.
In her final paragraph, Ms. Neusch states, "some students are not having even the basic skills taught them in an environment that is conducive to learning." Well Ms. Neusch, this is exactly why many families decide to homeschool their children.
I do believe including nine paragraphs from my article crosses the line of fair use and enters the copyright infringement realm. I believe that misquoting and misrepresenting what is said in my article goes against common decency. Finally, the lack of providing the reader with a link to the original article goes against common courtesy and is unprofessional.
So what do you think? Share your thoughts and opinions in the forum.
*Thank you to Daryl Cobranchi for calling this to my attention. Although orginally intrigued by the title of the article, registration detered my initial interest in reading the article. But after reading Daryl's blog on it (where he even provides a password), I decided I better find out what was going on for myself. Also, thank you Chris O'Donnell for the support and the "full fisk treatment."
