Posted on 11/12/2005 11:34:21 AM PST by wagglebee
A federal appeals court's dismissal of a lawsuit by parents outraged that a school district surveyed their elementary school-age children about sex is "frightening," says family advocate James Dobson.
"I think that's one of the most frightening examples of judicial tyranny that has come down," said Dobson, founder and head of Focus on the Family, on his daily radio broadcast.
Dobson called the 9th Circuit "the most out-of-control, imperious, unelected, unaccountable court in the country."
The court determined there is "no fundamental right of parents to be the exclusive provider of information regarding sexual matters to their children."
"What parents do not have is the right to raise their own children," Dobson said.
He noted the ruling concerned not only sex education but the whole curriculum.
"I mean the parents either have the responsibility to raise their own children or they don't," said Dobson.
The three-judge panel of the full court further ruled that parents "have no due process or privacy right to override the determinations of public schools as to the information to which their children will be exposed while enrolled as students."
Six parents sued the Palmdale, Calif., School District after finding out their kids had been asked a series of sexual questions in class. They included asking the children about the frequency of:
* Touching my private parts too much
* Thinking about having sex
* Thinking about touching other people's private parts
* Thinking about sex when I don't want to
* Washing myself because I feel dirty on the inside
* Not trusting people because they might want sex
* Getting scared or upset when I think about sex
* Having sex feelings in my body
* Can't stop thinking about sex
* Getting upset when people talk about sex
Judge Stephen Reinhardt wrote the unanimous opinion for the court. Referring to the fact the parents lost their case at the district-court level, Reinhardt wrote:
We agree [with the previous ruling], and hold that there is no fundamental right of parents to be the exclusive provider of information regarding sexual matters to their children, either independent of their right to direct the upbringing and education of their children or encompassed by it. We also hold that parents have no due process or privacy right to override the determinations of public schools as to the information to which their children will be exposed while enrolled as students. Finally, we hold that the defendants' actions were rationally related to a legitimate state purpose. [emphasis Reinhardt's].
Maybe one of these leftist judges can point out the portion of the Constitution which obligates or even permits the federal government to have any role in public education.
Moral absolutes/Homosexual agenda ping.
Article 8 ping
Dobson is right on this one.
Absolutely right!
time to get kids out of public schools.
The court said that when school boards make encompassing decisions, then parents cannot opt their children out or even know when they should be opting them out.
It strikes me that the courts are slowly forcing homeschool parents to get their kids out of public schools.
This means that the courts are slowly building a majority opposed to local school funding. Why vote for school taxes when all you're doing is having to pay double?
Therefore, the courts will have to decide that there's no right of local communities to vote on school funding.
Eventually, they'll be appropriating billions to mis-train a few dozen lonely, remaining public school students.
"We also hold that parents have no due process or privacy right to override the determinations of public schools as to the information to which their children will be exposed while enrolled as students."
I know this really is retarded, 6 year old kids shouldnt be subject to these crazy laws, or sexuality. I'd love to be able to direct the Public School System as to what they have to teach, but that debate could go on forever. How many theories are out there? How many different perspectives and points of view on the same subject? Nothing is absolute, so the whole Educational system should be what, controlled by the Feds as to what can be taught in schools?...Same formula for all the states? ...i think you know what i'm getting at here.
HOMESCHOOL OR PRIVATE SCHOOL YOUR KIDS...PIC AND CHOOSE.
it's not the 9th circuits fault, its not our fault...the Public School System is an entity of its own, and the only way it'll change is that * It * will have to swallow * Itself* up...
This is why I won't join in the attacks on Dobson and Pat Robertson.
From time to time they uncork some doozies, but on issues such as this they are absolutely correct, and we need every ally we can get.
The opinion expressed by the Ninth Circuit is as foreign to me as it could possibly be. I have no idea where these folks are coming from. What could possibly justify their conclusions, other than a hidden agenda? The US Constitution doesn't provide one iota of support for this.
I haven't read the posts yet. Is this, at least, something we can agree about?
Or is some conscience-haunted idiot going to come invent an occasion to slam Dobson?
Dan
I don't agree with Dobson on everything (but I do on most); if anyone disagree with anything here, they have absolutely no business being on FR.
Thanks - later read/ping.
I have stated on the forum that I am in favor of closing the government schools today. The Department of Education should cease to exist. I would like to see local communities develop their own replacements within eighteen months.
I would encourage them to adopt some model that would see private enterprises brought in to run local schools. If a school started to go south, I'd fire that entity and bring in a new one. In this manner unions and bad practices could be combated, no matter the type. I would do my best to keep unions out.
When unions become a component of education, the union and it's desires take precidence of the needs of the children.
Tenure would be a dirty six letter word that would never again enter into education. Teachers would be required to sign an agreement with the administration that either management or employee could terminate the relationship without cause.
I would be very careful about who I hired in to teach the kids. Their records should be above reproach.
I would like to see a national teachers registry, so that their work ethic would follow them where ever they went. If fired in one school, they wouldn't be able to snow another school adminstration to obtain a job.
Teachers that wanted to remain on staff, would come up with results or find another school that would accept them.
I agree with your public education theory.
Schools are there to teach reading, math, history and other skills necessary for kids to excel at higher levels of education and or business.
The PC crap would lay on the cutting room floor. Parents would instill values into their children. That should be a given.
I'd be hard pressed to allow anyone holding a position over that of a classroom instructor, to be involved in the new education effort. What they have presided over should disqualify them from participating.
I would allow an RN on campus, but only in an emergency or advisory capacity. There would be no medical provision without parental notification and agreement.
The psychologists would be barred from being on campus. Counselors would be limited to curicula matters. Anything requiring more than that would be refered to the police, or to the physician or psychologist of the parents own choosing.
Social engineering special interest groups would have to find another recruiting ground. They would be banned from the campus.
The school staff would be forbidden to sell environmental and other personal opinion related matters to the kids.
Government is the villain? How about the teachers' unions? In my state the legislature is largely controlled by the teachers union. The teachers union stuffs the neighborhood Republican caucuses with teachers and relatives of teachers (no disclosure of this interest is required). These caucuses work hard to ensure that only teachers union-approved delegates are selected who will vote for teachers union-friendly candidates at the state Republican convention.
It is a given that the Democratic candidate is four square behind the teachers union.
In the end, the teachers union is guaranteed that its candidates will win a majority of the seats in the legislature. They've been doing this for decades. Here in this reddest of red states education vouchers don't have a chance of being passed.
The power and organization of teachers unions is unparalleled at the local level in most states.
These judges will find a wholly supportive contingent here on FR.
"Government is the villain?"
"Government is not reason; it is not eloquent; it is force. Like fire, it is a dangerous servant and a fearful master." -- George Washington
In the majority of cases, yes, including this one.
What is the means and who devised the system in which the teachers unions have exercised their "power"?
I know, last night I heard from various FReepers how harmless pornography was.
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