Parental Rights

Parental Rights

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Sadly, there seems to be a growing number of people who think the government and the “experts” can raise your child better than you can! And the sad part about it is that many of these folks are professional educators who are employed right here in our school district. There are a lot of great teachers and staff employed in our school district who don’t think or act this way, but it only takes a few to do immense damage. And, in the case of Superintendent Foust, it only takes one! Under his leadership, the school district intentionally keeps parents in the dark about what is going on in the classrooms of our schools. They don’t want you to know that your school children are just pawns in their game for socialist upheaval.

Here are some specific parental rights issues that I will tackle once elected to the New Hanover County Board of Education:


Age-Appropriate School Libraries

In the last few years, we have heard an increasing number of parental complaints about inappropriate books and other materials in our public school libraries. The uproar has included subject matter objections (such as over books covering controversial topics like LGBTQ issues) as well as content (such as over books that are sexually explicit). Some folks like to label those complaints as nothing more than the rantings of “moral majority” conservatives who want to dictate what our children can read.

While I am very sympathetic to the concerns of these complaining parents, I want to re-iterate that I am a Constitutional and Liberty First Republican. I firmly believe in the 1st Amendment, that no book should be banned completely, and that if parents want their kids to read material that others find objectionable, they have every right to do so. However, a school library is a far different environment than the public library. At a public library, parents at least have the opportunity to supervise what their kids are taking off the shelves and perusing. No such opportunity for parental supervision exists at a school library. Therefore, it is my position that the materials at our school libraries need to be uncontroversial and by all accounts “age-appropriate.” If parents think that controversial books are appropriate for their children, then they need to visit the public library.

Parental Permission for Criminal Questioning

School Resource Officers are a great asset to our schools. Being on the ground and interacting with students can often help these officers stop a crime before it happens. However, sometimes school administrators and law enforcement look to investigate a potential crime that has already happened. Talking to students who may be witnesses is fine and appropriate. However, under current school board policy, they also have been granted the right to interrogate a student who is considered a suspect. They don’t need to get the parents’ permission or even inform the parents that their child is being questioned as a criminal suspect. This is just plain wrong!

Just like adults, the 5th Amendment to the US Constitution guarantees that children have a fundamental right to remain silent. However, since most students are not yet mature enough to make an informed decision on when they should exercise that right to silence, parents have the responsibility to make that choice for them. Up to now our school board has tried to skirt the US Supreme Court’s ruling in J. D. B. v. North Carolina, 564 U.S. 261 (2011) by trying to argue that children would not be “in custody” when this questioning occurs. Our school board should be upholding the spirit of our US Constitution, and not just looking for ways to get around it. Once I am elected, I will be sure this policy is changed.

Vaccine & Mask Requirements

One of the most important rights parents possess is the power to make medical decisions regarding their children. Sadly, some educational administrators and public health officials think they should be making those decisions for you! In the name of “public safety” they mandate a whole array of vaccines that our students must get before they are allowed to attend public school. In order to avoid civil litigation, they will often provide a religious exemption for parents who hold a sincere religious belief that ALL vaccines are immoral. Sometimes they might also make a medical exemption, if the child’s physician is on record stating that the vaccination would be dangerous due to a medical condition the student has. However, these exemptions don’t go nearly far enough. Parents might not be opposed to getting some vaccinations for their children but want to limit it to the most essential ones. Parents might not be opposed to their children getting “tried and true” vaccinations but are only opposed to newer vaccinations that might provoke unforeseen medical issues for their child in the future. Ultimately, parents should have the unbridled discretion to make these types of decisions for their children. If parents are concerned their child might catch a particular disease, then they should get their child vaccinated. However, these parents don’t have the right to impose their decisions about vaccines onto other parents. Once elected, I will work vigorously to amend Board Policy 4110, that covers the immunization and health requirements for school attendance.

There are currently no mask mandates for students in New Hanover County schools. However, during COVID-19, the former school board did impose such a mandate for all teachers, staff, and students. Forcing students to wear these masks was not only uncomfortable and violated parental rights, but actually impeded the learning of students. This is a decision that should have been left up to parents, especially given the fact that the percentage of young people who experienced serious medical problems or death was infinitesimal. Should another pandemic hit in the future, voters should know that I will be adamantly opposed to mask mandates.

A Parent Advocacy Office

Parents should have the right to bring their, often urgent, concerns to their children’s teachers and school administrators, and expect a timely and thorough response. Unfortunately, the New Hanover County School District has a poor track record in this regard. We are all quite aware of how reports of sexual abuse of students during the 1990s were swept under the rug, and it took way too many years for any of these malicious parties to pay the price in terms of civil or criminal liability. However, it hasn’t gotten much better in recent years either. A couple of years ago a New Hanover High School student, Chance Deablo, was being bullied. His mother reported this to the school’s administration, but they did nothing. Soon thereafter, a student was shot (luckily not fatally), and Chance Deablo is now sitting in prison until the age of 21. All because of an unresponsive school administration.

It’s not only because of high profile incidents like these, but for all the everyday concerns of parents that are being ignored, that I propose that we form an independent Parent Advocacy Office. Parents shouldn’t have to come up with large sums of money for an attorney, just to get our school administration to respond in a timely and effective manner to their concerns. The Parent Advocacy Office would represent parents and negotiate good results for parents and their children. It would operate in a very similar manner as the Office of the Taxpayer Advocate does with the IRS. It would take funds to staff this office, but I believe there is plenty of wasteful spending that can be cut in the school district, which will more than pay for the cost of operating this needed Office.

My Rationale

The right of parents to conceive and raise their children in the manner they deem best is perhaps one of the most fundamental rights we have as human beings. Yet, you will not find that right explicitly mentioned anywhere in the US Constitution, the Bill of Rights, or any of the subsequent amendments to it. However, that doesn’t make parental rights any less important.

Our Founders recognized that the Bill of Rights would never be an exhaustive list of all of our rights. Instead, the Bill of Rights lists some of the most important rights and commands its new government to be doubly sure it doesn’t infringe on those. Even the Federalists, like Alexander Hamilton, recognized that there was real danger in listing some of our rights, while omitting others. The 9th Amendment to the US Constitution was added to guard against that danger:

The enumeration in the Constitution, of certain rights, shall not be construed to deny or disparage others retained by the people.

United States Constitution, 9th Amendment

Like the right to travel, the right to parent is a fundamental and natural right that is just as important as the rights recognized explicitly in our state and/or federal constitutions.

Of course, children are not the property of the parents. They are made in the image of God and have fundamental rights to life and liberty as well. And so, in rare circumstances, our government has a responsibility to step in when cases of physical, mental, or sexual abuse take place, or when neglect is occurring. However, this is the rare exception and should never be the rule.

Sadly, there are a lot of “experts” in our school system who think they can raise your children better than you can. I strongly disagree, and I will do all I can to make sure these people either change their ways immediately or find themselves fired.

Got Questions?

If you have a question about a parental rights topic that I did not cover, or if you just want to discuss a topic I did cover in more detail, then please feel free to Contact Us. I will always make time to listen to voters!