Let’s take a walk down “parental rights” history lane.
The first time I’m aware it was used as a calling cry was in opposition to child labor laws. “Parents” should have the right to decide if their children were old enough to work in meat packing plants or not.
The second time I’m aware was in opposition to desegregating public schools in the “Southern Manifesto”, a document which said segregation of black and white Americans was “founded on elemental humanity and common sense, for parents should not be deprived by government of the right to direct the lives and education of their children.” 1
White parents threatened white teachers who tried to teach the more inclusive curriculum that was a result of desegregation, and pressured school boards not to adopt books that featured anything Black, asserting that doing such was a divisive and communist trick. Sound familiar?
Look. I’m a parent and a grandparent. I agree with actual parental rights. But the hysteria in our current conversation is based on a fallacy. “Moms for (their definition of) Liberty” would have you believe that their constitutional right to direct the upbringing and education of their children has ever been in question.
It hasn’t.
From the time my eldest entered the public school system in 1990 to the time my youngest graduated from the same in 2003, I always had access to curriculum. I have always been able to opt my child out of any lesson I chose, as long as I provided an alternative which would meet the same education goals.
It’s time to let this movement die its natural death so our kids can go to school without worry of losing another teacher. By the way, our current vacancy in Brevard County is close to 200 teachers for upcoming school year-which starts in less than a month.
Let’s return to issues that actually affect Americans' day to day lives, like health care. Last month 250,000 people were dropped from the only medical insurance option available to them, Medicare, when Florida refused to extend protections for them in an effort to keep “Florida free”.
I’m not sure how free Florida is when a quarter of a million people in our borders can’t get basic health care.
Let’s start with that.
1. Southern Manifesto on Integration (March 12, 1956)
From Congressional Record, 84th Congress Second Session. Vol. 102, part 4. Washington, D.C.: Governmental Printing Office, 1956. 4459- 4460.https://www.thirteen.org/wnet/supremecourt/rights/print/sources_document2.html