It’s a beautiful day and I think we’re finally past the last frost where I’m at, so my plant babies can permanently move outside soon! Yesterday I pulled the ones I’m going to keep, and the rest (I have 165+ tomatoes alone) I plan to give away to others in town. Last year I left them out too early and caught a night of frost which killed off most of them so I wasn’t able to give many away, but this year I took extra care and effort bringing them in every night (the the chagrin of my wife because our whole front room is taken up by plants).
Something that caught my attention yesterday was a discussion by a Twitter “friend” (Acquaintance? Associate? I typically reserve “friend” for people I know IRL and have hung out with, but the context seems appropriate here anyway…) about parental consent for their child to learn sex ed in school. Now my friend’s child is in 5th grade and brought home a graphic illustration of lady parts. That isn’t what the friend was upset about though – it was that this was taught without parental consent. My friend contacted the school and was told that the consent language had been on a particular field trip permission slip, but my friend found said document and it had never been signed – it only had an opt-out language on the form and the kids received it the day prior. Additionally, the way it was presented was a blurb unrelated to the field trip that (it is believed) the parents would overlook.
“The liberals are trying to brainwash your kids – get them out of public school,” you might say. Well, except that this was a private school pulling these shenanigans. I could go back and forth about the pros and cons of public/private/home schooling, how the school could have done better with notification, etc, but that’s not the point – it’s the reactions to my friend’s post.
It surprised me to see that so many people believe that the parent’s shouldn’t have a say in what sex education a child receives. In general I’m all for sex ed in schools, but actual ANATOMY and BIOLOGY education, not anything about the social practices or views of sex, but whatever the curriculum, the parent should be informed and be able to make the choice if it is right for their child. But it seems there are many who disagree – teachers who believe that since they are “educated” and have “degrees” they should have more authority over the child than the parent, people who thought that basic sex ed shouldn’t need parental consent, and so on.
I disagree – the parent is the child’s ultimate authority until they are the age of majority and are legally determined to make their own decisions.
Oppressive? Perhaps, to an extent – but the parent is the one responsible for that child’s upbringing and parents can be prosecuted or held financially responsible for things their child does. Are all these people who believe the parents shouldn’t have authority over their children willing to accept the financial liability for the child as well? No, of course not, because it isn’t actually about education, but control.
These are the people who want to teach your child there are more than two genders, that any discipline is abuse, and that your rights are a gift from the government. They want to make sure that there is “no child left behind” – meaning “no child let escape from the indoctrination.” They may come with logical sounding arguments (“what, you don’t want your kid to learn anatomy?”) but never forget, it isn’t about anatomy, it is about control, and taking the authority over children from the parents.
There is more to the story (like my friend being a sex educator themselves) but those details aren’t crucial to the central point, and I’m running late today.
Bottom line, if you trust someone else to teach your children, stay on top of what they are being taught or just homeschool them yourselves if you are able to.
Interesting Tidbits
Jim Morrison statue found by chance nearly 4 decades after it was stolen from Doors’ singer’s Paris grave – “The infamous sculpture, weighing nearly 300 pounds, did not appear damaged beyond the graffiti and its broken nose, which were already there when the bust went missing 37 years ago, according to newly released pictures.”
Colorado Man Blames Gun Maker for Shooting Teen in Face – “Brent Metz was carrying a Sig Sauer P320 when it discharged and struck the teen last September, and his lawyers argue that Metz never pulled the trigger. Instead, they claim the gun discharged as he was taking it from his truck and placing it in a holster on his hip.” Now there have been many reports of the Sig P320 discharging improperly, but Sig vehemently denies it is happening – it will be interesting to see how this pans out.
Telegram’s Durov says French spy chief asked him to ban conservative Romanian voices
Getting Away With It: The Art of Urban Infiltration and Exfiltration
Montana Becomes First State to Close the Law Enforcement Data Broker Loophole – “This means the government may not use money to get access to information about electronic communications (presumably metadata), the contents of electronic communications, contents of communications sent by a tracking devices, digital information on electronic funds transfers, pseudonymous information, or “sensitive data”, which is defined in Montana as information about a person’s private life, personal associations, religious affiliation, health status, citizen status, biometric data, and precise geolocation.”