Parents: Due to its subject matter, this email may not be suitable for all readers.
Last week the New York Times printed an opinion piece, “Does Sex Ed. Undermine Parental Rights?” In it, Princeton professor Robert George and Ph.D. student Melissa Moschella argue that the new sex education program being introduced in New York City public schools violates parental rights.
According to the article, the only content to be subject to a parental opt-out provision is classes on contraception and birth control. Other topics about which parents will have no say include discussion on methods of sexual gratification for oneself or others, and what health or pregnancy risks they do or do not pose.
One mother who appeared on an NBC News-4 video of a parents’ rally today urged the school board to “give parents the option and the right to choose based on their knowledge of their children.”
Instead, school officials have made a decision for all public school children, and the desires of the parents do not even come into play. If you have a child in their schools, the decision has been made for you.
Isn’t it time parents had more of a say in the education of their children and not less? It is no wonder homeschooling is growing in popularity, but the future of society is being shaped in every kind of school. Giving the public schools carte blanche with anyone’s children will impact us all sooner or later. The pendulum needs to swing back the other way, and parents need to be restored as the first line of defense in the lives of their children.
Sadly, many U.S. Courts in the last decade have upheld the idea that, as the Ninth Circuit put it in Fields v. Palmdale, “Parents … have no constitutional right … to prevent a public school from providing its students with whatever information it wishes to provide, sexual or otherwise, when and as the school determines that it is appropriate to do so.” So as long as the school board decides graphic depictions of various sex acts are “appropriate” for pre-teen students, as is the case in New York, there is nothing concerned parents can do about it in the public school context.
But something can be done in Congress. By passing the Parental Rights Amendment, we can restore the traditional protection of “the liberty of parents to direct the upbringing and education of their children” as a fundamental right to all parents – including those with kids in public schools.
Sincerely,
Michael Ramey
Dir. of Communications & Research
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