One of parents' most important duties is to protect their children from harmful sexual values and behaviors. Yet many public schools force potentially harmful, sometimes shockingly explicit sex education on their students.
Most of the time, parents have no control over the content of these classes. Occasionally, a group of parents finds out about a particularly obnoxious sex education class and protests to the principal or local school board. The class may be dropped, only to be replaced by another class that teaches equally objectionable material.
School authorities' cavalier attitude towards parents on this issue shows their anti-parent bias, and their contempt for parents' rights to control the values their children are taught.
Many school authorities insist that children need comprehensive sex education from kindergarten through high school. They believe parents can't be trusted because they have shameful feelings about sex or have "outdated" moral or sexual values. School authorities, claiming that they know best regarding sex education, usurp the parents' role, allegedly for the good of the children. In doing so, they show contempt for parents' rights, values, and common sense.
Many sex-education classes indoctrinate children with sexual values that can cause them irreparable harm. For example, these classes often promote the idea that most sexual behaviors are acceptable, including adultery, homosexuality, masturbation, and premarital sex.
The sex-education instructor simply tells the kids to "be careful" or use their "common sense" when they engage in these behaviors. As if we can depend on teenagers with raging hormones to be careful or use their common sense. The soaring teen pregnancy rate in this country puts the lie to this notion.
Horror stories about sex education classes and flagrant violations of parents' rights confront us from around the country. Here are only four of those stories:
? On March 19, 1996, a public school in East Stroudsburg, Pennsylvania made 59 sixth-grade girls submit to a genital examination as part of a routine physical. The school did not ask for parental consent. During the exam, school officials blocked the exit doors and refused to let the crying and pleading young girls call their parents.
? In Stephens County, Georgia, parents were shocked to discover that their fourteen- and fifteen-year-old daughters had been driven to a birth control clinic by a public school staff member without their knowledge. The county clinic administered AIDS tests and Pap smears to the girls and gave them birth control pills and condoms. The school denied parents access to the test results and defended its actions on the grounds that the counselor believed that she was doing what was best for the girls.
? The Pacific Justice Institute filed a lawsuit on behalf of parents against the Novato [California] Unified School District for authorizing pro‑homosexual presentations without any prior notice or consent. According to the Pacific Justice Institute Press Release, "The presentations entitled "Cootie Shots," exposed elementary school children as young as seven years old with skits containing gay and lesbian overtures. The presentations were followed by question and answer sessions about what constitutes 'normal' families and acceptance of those who choose the homosexual lifestyle." 6 (see Notes in "Public Schools, Public Menace")
? Carol (last name withheld for privacy), a schoolteacher, couldn't believe what she was being asked to teach in her sex education class. The curriculum forced her to show second-graders pictures of nude boys and girls and ask them to name body parts. School authorities told Carol and her fellow elementary school teachers that there were no absolute moral rules, so she shouldn't be concerned about what she had to teach the children.
Parents, it might be advisable if you periodically asked your children if their school is giving them sex-education classes and what the school is teaching in these classes.
If these classes force your children to sit through shocking, obnoxious, or embarrassing sex-education material, you can do something about it. Many states have Parent Notification laws that allow you to demand that the school "opt-out" (withdraw) your children from these classes. You can find more information about this important issue in "Public Schools, Public Menace."
Joel Turtel is an education policy analyst, and author of "Public Schools, Public Menace: How Public Schools Lie To Parents and Betray Our Children." Contact Information: Website: http://www.mykidsdeservebetter.com, Email: http://www.mykidsdeservebetter.com, Phone: 718-447-7348. Article Copyrighted ? 2005 by Joel Turtel. NOTE: You may post this Article on an Ezine, newsletter, or other website only if you include Joel Turtel's complete contact information, and set up a hyperlink to Joel Turtel's email address and website URL, http://www.mykidsdeservebetter.com
limousine airport Glendale Heights .. Lockport Chicago limo O’HareLet's face it: raising children can be quite the adventure.... Read More
Now I know that is not how the song goes,... Read More
An apology is a sign of strength, not weakness. Sometimes... Read More
Maryann is so focused she's blind. She's slipped over the... Read More
Night Visits From Your ChildIn the middle of the night... Read More
We all scream for ice cream. Or, we don't, at... Read More
As the new school year begins, parents play a pivotal... Read More
So you want to be a mum? Every time you... Read More
Direct Answers - Column for the week of May 31,... Read More
My neighbours' kid impressed me the other day.I was busy... Read More
We were sitting in the family room. My kids had... Read More
We take it for granted that children know how money... Read More
It's sometimes difficult to find ways to be involved with... Read More
Most of our Founding Fathers, including Ben Franklin, Sam Adams,... Read More
One of the implications of the current trend toward smaller... Read More
"All that I am or ever hope to be, I... Read More
All too often, children with learning disabilities are seen through... Read More
Life is funny.My twenty-year-old daughter, Melanie, has a her new... Read More
Potty training fears, often called toilet terrors, are common among... Read More
Until the moment I became a mother, I couldn't quite... Read More
Here are some things that you can do to help... Read More
It's no joy to be sick. It's even less joy... Read More
It is human nature to feel competitive and envious toward... Read More
The internet is a dangerous place for your children. Don't... Read More
"How many times do I have to tell you to... Read More
Lincoln Stretch rentals Willowbrook ..The time you will need to teach your children the... Read More
Parents looking for a quick fix usually choose troubled teen... Read More
Diapers..Changing a dirty diaper is not the best part of... Read More
"Do not think that love, in order to be genuine,... Read More
It is human nature to feel competitive and envious toward... Read More
What do you do when your child begins talking to... Read More
Drivers 16 years of age have little driving experience, putting... Read More
Most of us really don't like it when someone is... Read More
It is extraordinary times that we find ourselves in. Change... Read More
Parental example, whether for good or for bad, is undoubtedly... Read More
If you're a single parent or a married couple on... Read More
As a step daughter and step grand daughter, I followed... Read More
There are some grounds to assume that a cognitive dissonance... Read More
Is Homework Really That Important?Dear Friends,I no longer teach in... Read More
How excited do kids get with the start of school... Read More
Our back-to-school buying habits do not help kids succeed in... Read More
Ever feel like you're out of the loop when it... Read More
? Let the child choose his or her own lunch... Read More
For many adults, reading a book or newspaper seems effortless.... Read More
Teenagers are a work-in-progress, and parenting teenagers can be tricky... Read More
Recently, a much-anticipated game of mini-golf with my children soon... Read More
It was the homework that did it. Each night became... Read More
If you ever walk through an orphanage, it will be... Read More
"There is nothing new under the sun," states Ecclesiastes 1:9.... Read More
(Isaiah 11:6 KJV) The wolf also shall dwell with the... Read More
Parenting |