Parental rights denied by 9th Circuit Court

Although this decision was made in 11/05, I think it merits discussion. The 9the Circuit Court determined that parents have to exclusive constitutional right to determine what their children are taught regarding sexual matters. The court ruled that the parents rights end at the school door. The case revolves around a sex survey given to elementary school kids asking questions of a deeply personal and sexual manner. (How often do you touch yorself, etc.). The parents objected, saying they should determine what their kids are exposed to regarding sexuality.

Sound to me like an open door for any pro gay, pro abortion, etc. agenda that the schools feel are proper and politocally correct. It would seem to me like a violation of the parents first amendment right to practice the religion of their choice. The court held that parents still have to choice as to where to send their kids to school, but with the liberal fight against vouchers, how many parents really have this choice?

http://72.14.203.104/search?q=cache:...s&ct=clnk&cd=7

Jam it back in, in the dark.

The problem here, as I see it rests with the subject matter. Science, math, English, etc are valid subjects, usually without a moral bearing one way or the other. Inquiring as to a childs sexual thoughts, teaching certain sexual matters as normal when they perhaps are not for many people, well, this crosses the line.

I find it interesting the idea put forth by the court that parents have no "exclusive Constitutional right" to the education of their kids. Taken to its logical conclusion that though would end homeschooliong and private schools and mandate government approved brainwashing..i mean "education".

And what sick pervert is studying how many times a frist grader considers matrubation...thats just sick.

How ya doing, buddy?

Originally Posted by Watts

Furthermore, home schooling materials still have to be mandated by the State. Private/public school teachers are typically certified by the State. So home schooling really won't be illegal.

Not necessarily. Many states only require that ceratin subjects be taught and the cirricullum doesn't have to be state approved. Many cirricullum are religious based and thus wouldn't meet "state" approval.

My whole point in bring this issue up isn't sex education and the like...it is however the fact that a court has determined that parents have less rights in deciding their own kids education that does the state. It is frightening that the state has more rights over your kids than you do. The state says your kid need Ritalin or he's out of school...he goes on ritalin. Your a conservative Christian/Muslim/Jew and you believe homosexuality is a sin..tough shit cause the school says you're wrong...and the list can go on. I believe a ruling like this sets a dangerous precendent by establishing that the state has a greater rights than parents in regards to their children.

This thing is sticky, and I don't like it. I don't appreciate it.

Those of you who think this is no big deal and that the government knows better than parents in this case should realize that a decision like this can be a two edged sword. If the educational system were to take a hard right turn (a fantasy, I know) and your kids were bing taught how evil gays are and how wrong liberal ideas were, wouldn't you then want your parental authority back, or would you still be fine with your kids being taught morals that are in direct opposition to how you're trying to raise them??

I am a dolphin, do you want me on your body?

"In fact, the survey asked seven year olds to “rate the following activities” among which were these:

8. Touching my private parts too much
17. Thinking about having sex
22. Thinking about touching other people’s private parts
23. Thinking about sex when I don’t want to
26. Washing myself because I feel dirty on the inside

34. Not trusting people because they might want sex
40. Getting scared or upset when I think about sex
44. Having sex feelings in my body
47. Can’t stop thinking about sex
54. Getting upset when people talk about sex "

These are the actual questions. Seems a bit heavy handed to ask seven year olds this when the thing they think about the most is Spongebob. A survey like this, done at such an early age, doesn't just inquire, it provides. These type of questions to a 7 year old, in an authoritarian school setting will undoubtedly prompt the kid, who probably never thought about sex at all, to wonder if he should start. Should he touch himself? Should he think about touching others private parts? The survey opens doors way to early that should be opened when a parent deems fit.

As to the history argument..are we exposing 7 year olds to the full graphic horror of the holocaust or is that reserved for an older audience?

Again..the question at the heart of this is who has the ultimate authority over our children? The way the government runs most things the thought of them having exclusive control over the education of kids is frightening to say the least.

I was speaking idiomatically.

Lack of exclusive control meaning that if I as a parent decide that little Jimmy not learn all about the birds and the bees until, oh lets say he's 9 years old, but the state, in its infinite wisdom, decides that innocent little Jimmy be introduced to sex and touching himself, and touching other people, or, lets go beyond the survey, since we're talking sexual matters not just the survey, condom usage, at age 7, then I am a parent am shit out of luck.
So little Jimmy comes home from school and being only 7 and not emotionally able to handle the new sexual knowledge he has, starts touching his little sisters vagina. This ruling is ludicrous and it is bad law.

What kind of toxic man-thing is happening now?

In the typical fashion of left wing activist judges, the constitution is viewed here as some sort of a big basket that holds all of our rights, and if a right isn't in there then you obviously don't have it. The right to educate our children, to inform them on moral matters, to introduce them to sexual matters when they are ready is a fundamental human right. Its a natural right. The court says that parents no longer have this right exclusively. The state can now supersede our wishes in these matters. The ruling is open enough that the state, should it chose to, can go beyond these matters and supersede parental authority wherever it deems fit.

FELIPE NO

Dan, I agree with most of what you said. A parent does delegate the state the authority to educate their child when the opt to send their child to public school. However, that delegation comes with certain expectations. The parent sare probably given a copy of the ciricullum for the grade years that their child is attending. The expectation is that the child will be taught in accordance with the ciricullum. The parents had no reasonable expectation that their first graders would be exposed to sexual matters.

Another area of concern is the court decision regarding parents privacy rights. The court said that the parents have no expectation of privacy in this matter. This seems to set a dangerous precedent in that just what can the state inquire of the children about concerning the private lives of the children or their parents?

What, you don't want my bikini-clad body?