Parental rights under assault across the country as even more schools, politicians take steps to get between parents and children

As parents continue to raise concerns over the politicization and sexualization of their children in schools, the tension between parents and school and government officials has likely never been higher and now even more schools and legislators are adding fuel to the fire.

---

Quick Facts

• A Denver school is implementing a Black Lives Matter Week where kindergarteners are taught ideas such as globalism, transgender affirming, and the disruption of the nuclear family.
• A school in Oregon has implemented a Queer & Sexuality Alliance Club that fourth and fifth graders can join without parental consent.
• A California state senator proposed an amendment to state law allowing children as young as 12 to receive any vaccine approved by the Food and Drug Administration without parental consent.

---

For example, Centennial Elementary School in Denver has announced that it will hold a Black Lives Matter (BLM) Week. The parents’ organization Parents Defending Education obtained the instruction guide for kindergarten and first grade students, which included the guide “Black Lives Matter Guiding Principles.”

One idea that is being taught is “globalism,” described in the document as “our ability to see how we are impacted or privileged within the global black family.” Others included “transgender affirming,” “Black families,” which was described as “a space that is family friendly and free from patriarchal practices,” and “Black villages,” which is defined as “the disruption of western nuclear family dynamics and a return to the ‘collective village’ that takes care of each other.”

The school also claimed that supporting BLM and its values is not political.

Erika Sanzi, the outreach director for Parents Defending Education, called the effort “indoctrination at any age” that “borders on abuse with students this young.”

She added, “It is preposterous and wholly inappropriate to teach 5- and 6-year-olds that they must commit to being trans affirming and queer affirming and in favor of disrupting the nuclear family. If a parent wants to raise these subjects at home, that is one thing, but in a classroom, it is nothing more than social engineering and a theft of childhood by the state.”

Raleigh Hills Elementary School in Oregon has upset parents after starting a Queer and Sexuality Alliance (QSA) club, which fourth and fifth graders were asked to join without parental consent. Fourth graders were given a presentation on the club, explaining that it will “have conversations about identity, gender, equal rights, and social issues,” “explore LGBTQ+ history and activism,” and “advocate for change in our school and community.”

After the presentation a social worker is accused of passing around a sign-up sheet to a class that all but one of the students signed. The boy refused, saying he would need his parents’ permission. The boy’s parents, Arlene KoePal and Zachary Beacock, said that the social worker told him he did not need their permission and older students told him he would be “missing out.”

Arlene, a self-proclaimed liberal, said, “I lost it.” She also believes the club is not student-led. “I’m not homophobic. But this just isn’t right. This stuff needs to be taught at home. There is a bigger picture here. This isn’t just a bunch of kids wanting to get together and start a club. Why would the school target fourth and fifth graders?”

Members of the Beaverton Education Association (BEA) teachers union have supported the club. Jessica Pierce, a union representative and administrator for a nearby high school, said, “QSA is here to stay.” She added, “We have a moral and ethical responsibility to move beyond vague statements of tolerance and take direct actions that show we embrace ALL of who our children are, including their gender and sexuality identities.”

She continued, “It is never too early [to] do this work. Never. The elementary level QSA offers ALL RHS 4th and 5th grade kids the voluntary opportunity to connect with each other from positions of dignity and respect.”

Beacock voiced opposition, saying, “To be pushing anything outside of education, I feel like this has become their religion. It really feels like perverts that want to pervert our kids. As young as they can.”

Bambi Russell, a mother of a fourth-grade girl who signed up for the club without her permission, said, “This is not something that is age-appropriate. I wanted the opportunity to opt out of that. I sent her to school so she can do school. At home, we can have talks about things like this. That’s not the place for that.”

It isn’t just schools coming between parents and children. California State Sen. Scott Wiener has proposed that children as young as 12 years old be allowed to receive vaccines without parental consent. California already allows minors to receive human papillomavirus and hepatitis B vaccines, as well as birth control and abortions without parental consent. 

“We have already made this decision that we trust teenagers to make certain decisions about their bodies and their health,” Wiener said. “To allow parents to blow up a teenager’s life by refusing to get them vaccinated, that’s just wrong.”

These developments may horrify parents but they should be no surprise. These types of activities are common in today’s schools. Whether hiding gender transitioning from parents, teaching children to pray to Aztec gods, promoting Critical Race Theory, exposing children to sexually explicit material, or teaching a litany of other harmful ideas, schools routinely circumvent parental authority to push their ideological agendas on students.

Politicians also frequently insert themselves between parents and children. Wiener’s proposal is nothing new, as Washington D.C. already allows children as young as 11 to be vaccinated without parental consent and knowledge, as the law also requires insurance companies, healthcare providers, and school staff to hide the inoculation record from the child’s parents.

Parents must be alert to what is happening. School officials and politicians now believe that they know what’s best for your children and they believe it is their right to impose their will. Take an active interest in your child’s life and education and do whatever is necessary to make sure that you are the one parenting your child, not the state.