A court recently sentenced a homeschooling couple with two daughters, ages 15 and 11, to 50 days in prison. The charge – intellectual neglect – is so absurd that it could almost have been invented just to convict this couple.

This accusation appears particularly absurd since the couple’s daughters are fluent in several languages and described as “pianists with advanced training. ” What upset the court, however, was the lack of “gender and sex education” and the absence of an emphasis on “tolerance or diversity. ” When sentencing, the judge castigated the parents’ attempt to use “their daughters as pawns in an ideological struggle.”

It Could Happen Here

This case did not play out in a U.S. court. It is from São Paulo, Brazil. However, a similar situation could happen in the United States. Public, private and even parochial schools here have served as backdrops for many ideological struggles. Organizations dependent on the educational establishment, particularly the teachers’ unions, continue to insist that homeschooling parents receive no assistance from the state.

Within recent memory, a Harvard law school professor dismissed homeschooling as “authoritarian” and potentially abusive. Most tellingly, disputes over “gender identity” have, after all, inspired states to remove children from parents’ custody.

So, yes, it could happen here – and that is one reason for taking this case seriously.

Like a host of U.S. parents, the Brazilian couple, Audato and Leda Denardi, became aware of the limitations of public schools during the COVID pandemic. They withdrew their two intellectually promising daughters from the government—run schools and began teaching them at home. All observers agree that since then, the children have thrived.

A Bewildering Legal Situation

One purpose of a law is to inform the people precisely what actions they may pursue without penalty. So, drivers who pass a sign reading “Speed Limit – 40” know they can legally drive on that road as long as their speed does not exceed the posted limit. If they see a police officer, they need not fear because they are acting within the law.

However, the legal situation facing the over 70,000 homeschoolers in Brazil enjoys no such certainty.

Article 205 of Brazil’s 1988 Constitution states that, “Education, which is the right of all and the duty of the National Government and family, shall be promoted and encouraged with societal collaboration, seeking the full development of the individual, preparation for the exercise of citizenship and qualification for work.”

However, the exact line between the government’s responsibility and that of the family is hazy. Homeschooling was generally regarded as illegal until 2019, when Brazil’s Supreme Court ruled it permissible. The Court’s decision turned the question over to the national legislature. The lower house, the Chamber of Deputies, passed a regulatory act in 2022, but the Federal Senate took no action on it. So, while homeschooling itself is legal, parents have no guidelines to ensure that they are doing it legally.

An Absurd Decision

Thus, the general legal situation is open to the sort of abuse exhibited by the trial judge. His petty attitude even extended to the girls’ distaste for some modern music, which he took as a sign of the parents’ unreasonable attitudes.

Even the prosecutor openly argued in the family’s favor and recommended acquittal. Counselor Julio Pohl of the Alliance Defending Freedom (ADF) International is defending the parents. His assessment was particularly biting.

“The prosecutor examined the witnesses and recommended an acquittal. An independent educational psychologist found no sign of neglect. The girls themselves described rigorous daily education. The judge convicted anyway – because a fifteen—year—old said she finds some music lyrics morally questionable, and because the curriculum didn’t include state—approved content on gender. A parent has been sentenced to prison not for failing to educate her children, but for educating them according to her own values. This is a grotesque abuse of the criminal law, and we will not let it stand. ”

The Path Ahead

The Denardis are understandably critical of the legal obstacle course they continue to navigate. EWTN News reported Mrs. Denardi’s anguished reaction. “As a mother, I cannot conceive of a more dictatorial state than the one that wants me in jail because I chose to exercise my right to direct the education and upbringing of my daughters. My husband and I are hopeful the court will recognize our right to choose the best education for our children and overturn this unjust conviction.”

Currently, the sentence has been set aside while the Denardis appeal their case to the highest court in the State of São Paulo. While no one can predict the outcome of any trial, there are grounds for optimism. The important newspaper, Folha de S. Paulo, recently reported that Justice Kassio Nunes Marques of Brazil’s Supreme Court succinctly explained that the care of children transcends other political labels and issues. He poignantly stated, “Protecting childhood is not conservatism.”

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