Well @canadian-coconut this is phenomenal. I didn't know about @familyprotection so will definitely be going there and following. It is a universal problem, as much in South Africa as anywhere else. Here, our children have to be in formal school from age 6 or 7 until age 15. If they choose to homeschool, parents have to obtain permission from the provincial authority and provide a weekly timetable and a learning programme. A move towards unschooling is beginning, and I'm not sure how the government intends to handle this. I've just recently joined a facebook group of unschoolers. For 14 years I've worked at a preschool and junior phase learning centre (from toddlers up to age 9), and my son was government-schooled from age 6 to age 18. We were always dissatisfied with the system, and although I have a small voice in my job, I despise the system.
As for CPS in this country, I told a bit of my husband's story to @charisma777. He was removed from his mother and siblings at 3 months as mother was considered too young and incapable of looking after him ... this was probably true, but the years that followed were a nightmare of being returned to the family, then removed again, being placed in children's homes, then boys' home, sometimes with his siblings, other times separated due to age differences, and losing track of his family for many years.
I apologise for rambling on, but I feel strongly about parents' and children's rights! Thanks for this post, and for the @familyprotection account. Whatever I can do with my small voice I shall do.