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Homeschoolers risk jail, thwart officials in Germany
By Krista Kapralos/ Dec. 8, 2010
This story was published in German in the Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung, one of Germany’s largest newspapers. (PDF version of story and FAZ layout.) The story was written for a German audience, with translation in mind. The slightly expanded English version is below.
FRANKFURT, Germany – The Müller children must wait until the local public school lets out before they can play outside. During normal school hours, they stay inside their suburban Baden-Württemberg home. Curtains are drawn, doors stay closed.
“When we do activities with the kids like children’s choir or soccer, we don’t do it in our own city,” says Stefan Müller, who asked that his name be changed for this story. “We go to the next city, where the kids are not known.”
Jurgen Dudek teaches his sons in their home in rural Germany. Homeschooling is not allowed under German law. Some parents who homeschool have spent time in jail and have lost custody of their children. (Photo by Krista Kapralos)
According to official records, the Müller family left Germany six years ago, just after local officials began to issue a series of €1,000 fines, Müller says, for failing to send their children to a state-recognized school.
It’s the state’s fault his children live in hiding, Müller says. His oldest son was bored and depressed at school, but the teachers refused to move him to a higher class or offer him more challenging work.
“A friend said, ‘Why don’t you homeschool him?’” Müller says. “And we had a typical German reaction: Homeschooling is not allowed; kids have to go to school.”
But the more Müller clashed with school officials, the more determined he grew to offer his son an alternative. Families should be allowed to choose what’s best for their children, Müller says, even if it means keeping them home.
“I am a German who lives in the city where I grew up,” he says. “I know the people here. I know this city. It’s really hard to be isolated like this.” Read more
Google Street View: Shades of Nazi spy era?
By Krista Kapralos/Global Post
Aug. 19, 2010
FRANKFURT, Germany — It wasn’t too long ago that apartment dwellers in Germany assumed that someone, somewhere in the building, was taking notes on everything they did. Even people who owned their own homes could never be certain whether a government mole was listening in on their conversations.
“Making sure the law was kept,” said Jobst Krause, a 67-year-old Frankfurter, of the surveillance during the Nazi era. Read more
Chavez creates divide among evangelicals
Nov. 2007, The Washington Post
By Krista Kapralos
CARACAS, Venezuela — Every Sunday, Ana González wears one of her best suits to attend Las Acacias, the largest evangelical Christian church in Caracas.
And each week, four days later, she laces up combat boots and tucks her hair into an olive green military cap to report for duty with Venezuela’s army reserves, a foot soldier in President Hugo Chávez’s military.
“I believe in Jesus Christ because he was a revolutionary,” said González, 47. “I follow Chávez because I believe in the things Chávez is doing. He is also a revolutionary.” Read more