I’m a mum-of-three and I refuse to ever send my kids, 5, 4 and 2, to school – it’s a choice, no-one’s going to arrest me
A MUM-OF-THREE has refused to send her kids to school – and instead has opted to travel around the world with them.
Mrs Richardson, who is a beauty salon owner, comes back to the UK every now and then before jetting across seas with her family.
And when it comes to education, the mum, whose children are aged five, four and two, would rather homeschool and world school them.
World schooling is an educational approach in which families use the world as their classroom, where they learn from visiting different countries.
Mrs Richardson is proud to travel with her children across the globe, and believes it is a much better option then sending them into school.
However, she has found that her parenting style has not landed well with other parents.
She took to TikTok, to share one of her experiences she had when explaining her choice of how she parents.
Mrs Richardson captioned it: “You wont get arrested for not sending your kids to school
“Once you de register your kids you can do as you wish. You are “allowed”
“You do have a choice.”
Speaking to camera, the mum first explained that she was getting her nails done at her salon whilst speaking to another customer about taking the kids away on their travels.
She explained that the customer agreed with her, as they were at a young age and it was best to “do it while they are young before they have to go to school.”
Mrs Richardson then replied by saying how she was not going to send her kids to school.
She then went on to talk about “the horror” in the customers reaction to her, whilst she was questioned about what she was going to do with her kids.
People don’t know that you have a choice, and you do. You don’t have to send your kids to school
Mrs Richardson
The mum continued: “I was like ‘oh well, we are going to homeschool them, and world school them. I’m not going to send them to school.’”
The mum was then questioned if she was “allowed” to do that, to which she said: “Yeah, you’re allowed to do that. Who is going to stop me?”
Mrs Richardson couldn’t believe the reaction she received, and explained that there is a “crazy mentality” around not sending kids to school.
She wants to raise awareness that parents “have a choice” and “you don’t have to” send them to school.
She then went on to explain that homeschool is “actually the default option” and “actually school is an opt in option.”
The mum finished the story by saying: “The reaction was so like are you going to get arrested?
What's the laws on sending your kids to school
The Gov.uk website reads:
“You must make sure your child gets a full-time education that meets their needs (for example if they have special educational needs). You can send your child to school or educate them yourself.
“Children must get an education between the school term after their 5th birthday and the last Friday in June in the school year they turn 16.
“You’ll be contacted by either:
- the school – if your child is enrolled in school and does not turn up (even if they’re only absent for a day)
- the council’s education welfare officer – if they think your child is not getting a suitable education at home
“You can be prosecuted if you do not give your child an education. You’ll normally get warnings and offers of help from the local council first.”
How do you deregister your child from school?
Home Schooling website Twinkl reads: “The official, legal, process is to send a letter to the headteacher at your child’s school, stating that you would like the school to deregister your child.
“This letter is an important document, so it’s a good idea to deliver it by hand or send it by recorded delivery. “
However, there are other things that are legally required depending on where you are in the UK, particularly in England, Northern Ireland, Scotland, or Wales so it’s best to check with your local council first.
“People don’t know that you have a choice, and you do. You don’t have to send your kids to school.”
The video received a lot of attention with many rushing to the comments section to share their thoughts.
“We have been so conditioned that school is the only option! Scary,” one TikTok user said.
“The amount of people that I hear this from is mad. The same people call up schools to complain about the quality of education all the time, so many truly don’t know this is even an option,” another added.
A third mum, who has also done similar, said: “I home schooled for a year and was the best decision ever – put him back in for GCSE years and it was tough but we got through. He’s successful now!
“School is NOT THE ONLY CHOICE.”A fourth wrote: “Home ed is hard but so worth it.”