Contact List - Media Guidelines
Since I first became involved in alternatives to main stream education there have been many programmes and articles that have tried to present the subject to the general public. The overwhelming opinion of parents who have cooperated in the making of these programmes is that they have not succeeded in presenting an accurate picture of what home education, small schools, free schools, flexi-schooling, etc. are really like.
I believe that the reason for this is that the people who made the programmes had no direct experience of what they were talking about. The media has an enormous potential to focus public awareness on issues that need to be addressed. Interesting though the subject of home education, etc. undoubtedly is, perhaps a subject of even more interest is the truth about what is going on in schools today - and this is a subject of which all programme makers do have some direct experience.
If programmes detailed the pointlessness, the drudgery, and the fear that characterises life in a modern school - perhaps with programme makers even drawing upon their own experiences - then I am sure that it would be much more successful in helping people to become open minded about the alternatives.
With this in view, I would prefer that people working for the media do not use the Freedom in Education Contact List as a means of contacting people - but would be happy to provide help with any programme that took a serious look at the problems in mainstream schools.