Should I call a social worker?

So I met my half siblings in September, and fuarrrk dude, am I concerned about these rascals. They were apparently "homeschooled", but these 8 and 10 year olds ain't got a damn clue how to read, and when I tried helping the 8 year old with her math homework, she couldn't even do basic addition. I've always sucked at math too, but gee willy winkers, counting on your fingers to figure out 7+5 is the most basic of the basics. Hell, she didn't even know how to write the number 8. I asked why they didn't know how to read, and apparently the mother didn't have time to teach them, despite my father saying she did a "great job" of homeschooling the kids. Their grammar is extremely fuarrrky too. For an example, they'll say "him aren't" instead of "he isn't". I'm considering dialing up a social worker, but I'm afraid. I feel like intervention would be good for these kids, but what happens next? What if they get taken away for good? I was temporarily taken away from my mother by a social worker when I was 7 or 8 and I hated it. What should I do? I can't just do nothing, these are children at the mercy of their neglectful parents, they deserve to have a future, but I'm scared of accidentally making things worse.

That's a really bad situation. If you're not willing to make sure they learn yourself, that is teaching them yourself, calling a social worker is probably a good idea, barring other options. Is there anything else off about the kids? Do they just have mental disabilities? That would probably be difficult to tell. So, while I'm not eager to suggest calling Uncle Sam, or whatever name you give the personification of your country, that seems like it will be better in the long run. Lastly, you'll need to consider that this will cause a permanent rift with your father and his wife. You'll be the guy who called the authorities on them for the rest of your life.

>>6680 The way I see it you have only one option i.e Talk to their parents once and try to make them realize how serious this is and how this can impact on their future. If they don't understand or didn't take you seriously, then call social worker.

>>6680 >I was temporarily taken away from my mother by a social worker when I was 7 or 8 and I hated it. It might be temporarily stressful for them but they will be much better off in the long run. If your cousins grow up to be illiterate and uneducated their lives will be far, far more painful than they need to be. An uncomfortable experience like this will hopefully be just the kick in the pants their parents need to put them back into proper school or at least put more effort into homeschooling. I don't know what location you're in but US social workers are very unwilling to permanently take kids away and will only do it as a last resort if nothing else can convince the parents to unfuck themselves. On the subject, why are they being homeschooled if they're not actually being taught anything? Is it for religioius reasons?

I don't know how this work where you live OP, I would barely know ho this work where I live. But I expect there is some form of organisation charged with verifying that home-schooled kids receive proper education ? If your siblings are not mistreated beside the very poor teaching, it might make more sense to contact this education-oriented organisation, rather than social workers. Hopefully that will be enough to open the eyes of the parents so that they either send the kids to school, or start teaching in a better manner, without risking your siblings being taken away. Also talk to your father and his new wife. Your all adults, unless you have specific reasons to suspect malevolence on their part, they're probably just misguided. You might be able to make them change their way without strangers coming in play, which they wouldn't like. As a closing thought : you have no duty to be nice to your father just because he is your father. That he let his kids be illiterate is at best gross negligence on his part. On the other hand, you do have a duty to protect the two kids, not just because they are your siblings but because they are two fellow human being in danger.

>>6682 This. First talking to the parents and trying to work it out with them definitely seems like the better idea.

>>6686 >But I expect there is some form of organisation charged with verifying that home-schooled kids receive proper education ? "Home school" is an American phrase and I don't know how they do things there but in the UK there is no real government oversight. There are occasional visits and meetings you need to do but this only to convince them you are semi serious. They check that the kid is not alone playing video games all day while mum is out at work. They don't check if kids actually learn the soykaf they are supposed to learn in any way. There is no government help either. If you want formal qualifications (like GCSEs and A levels) you need to pay a tutor to handle your coursework and pay a school to let you sit the exams as an external candidate. It's basically the same process as getting the qualifications as an adult. >>6685 >On the subject, why are they being homeschooled if they're not actually being taught anything? Is it for religioius reasons? I think this is really important to know if you're planning to confront them about it. Religion and bullying are the main 2 reasons parents take their kids out of school and in their mind will always trump any downsides of home education. >>6682 >Talk to their parents once and try to make them realize how serious this is and how this can impact on their future. The success of this will depend a lot on personality, social skills and your relationship. If it was me I would call the social workers anonymously as a concerned neighbor or something. But perhaps you are not as socially incompetent as me.

Yea, what is better than kids having poor education? REMOVING THEIR PARENTS FROM THEM Genius, not like most serial killers, murderers and convicts come from destroyed family unit

>>6691 >Genius, not like most serial killers, murderers and convicts come from destroyed family unit Isn't this because the families destroyed themselves? I don't think orphans or kids removed from bad parents are necessarily worse off. It could also be that social services will only force the kids to go to school. Not take them away.

>>6692 >orphans are at better place than with their families Go look up how many orphans "make it" Unless parents physically hurt their kids putting them in that bullying hell hole with no parental figure makes no god damn sense unless you believe daddy government is better than me at raising my fuarrrking child

>>6691 >>6693 Are you one of those people that think that mental bullying doesn't exist because there is no physical pain afterwards? >>6680 Confronting the parents is a good idea, the thing is, if it doesn't get better, the parents will then know who called the social services. If the parents are ok with their children not being able to read, do you think they will listen to reasonable arguments? Do you think you will be physically safe after calling social services on them? The safest bet for you and the kids would be just straight up calling the social services.

>>6695 I think >>6694 is basically just disagreeing with your position that as long as parents don't physically beat up their kids then it's all cool. I don't think you need to hit kids to abuse them. >...makes no god damn sense unless you believe... You think there is only one correct answer to your subjective hypothetical question? Of course the state is capable of raising children better then incompetent parents. Even just keeping the kid alive can be enough of an improvement. If you don't agree then try forming a better argument.

>>6693 >unless you believe daddy government is better than me at raising my fuarrrking child As incompetent as the government is, at least public schools are successful at teaching people how to read and add single digit numbers >>6689 >Religion and bullying are the main 2 reasons parents take their kids out of school and in their mind will always trump any downsides of home education. Since they're so young, I doubt bullying has been a serious issue. Religion and bullying are the most common reasons, but there's plenty of other reasons. I grew up near a rural area where some parents kept their kids out of school as much as they could because they needed help on the farm, for example. It's also common in abuse cases.

i'd say you call the authorities. maybe not social workers, but something more educational-ly. also, try to talk to your father and his wife, bring another eight year old for show to show them how far behind their spawn is from the one you just brought in.

OP here, I just wanna clarify something. The kids are currently enrolled in school. They were enrolled because the mother had to get a job to make ends meet, I don't know the reason they were homeschooled before, but what's done is done. They have a 5 year old younger sister in kindergarten who seems to be developing normally, thank god. It's just their current lack of skills that bother me. Despite going to school, they've shown no improvement from the time I met them, to this day in January. I don't know if school is helping, especially since the grades they're (1st and 3rd) just assume you know the bare basics already. When I was helping the 8 year old with her homework, she said her teacher normally helps her with this, but still, she didn't know how to do a fuarrrking thing on her own. I left her to solve a basic single digit addition problem on her own, but she just sat there for 15 minutes unsure of what to do. I wouldn't be concerned if she could at least do a little bit. I'm concerned because she can't do anything at all, despite her recent enrollment in school. Thanks to all who responded. I'll try to talk to the parents first, but if that's unfruitful, then I'll probably go to the school and see what happens next.

>>6704 Oh, and just to clear things up, this is happening in Colorado.

>>6704 If they are going to school, then professionals are already in the loop, and I'm not sure you can do much more than provide help with homework and learning lessons. It's really important that there be one person at home caring about this, and if the parents won't, you'll have to chose whether to step in and take the role. (If time available and location allow it ...) Again, talk about all this at least with your father, whom I imagine you're closest to, but also with their mother if possible.

>>6704 In that case, I don't think you should call a social worker. Their teachers have noticed that they don't have the skills and their teachers are going to be aware of their homeschooling background. Hopefully, the school is getting them the attention they need to make up for the lost education from the home schooling. You should still talk to the parents, but be prepared for some standoffishness from them in the form of, "What do you know about raising my children?" and, "Are you calling us stupid?" Do you know if the school has had any parent-teacher meetings with their parents, yet?

>>6706 >If they are going to school, then professionals are already in the loop, and I'm not sure you can do much more than provide help with homework and learning lessons. This is wrong. Children with a healthy home life do much better in school. Ones who are worried or stressed out about abuse, shortages of food, neglect, or anything else tend to have bigger things to worry about than their times tables and thus do much more poorly. Ensuring the children are happy, healthy, and comfortable in their home life will go a long way to helping them succeed in school. This really depends on what the parents are like, though, and OP hasn't elaborated on that much. They might be neglectful and unloving (hence homeshcooling their 10 year old for 5+ years without teaching him much of anything) or they might be very warm and caring but simply extremely bad at teaching.