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Parents Must Assert Rights Over School
Authorities
"How often does your 6th-grade daughter have oral
sex?"
If the question offends you, then talk to the
school officials at Shrewsbury, Massachusetts. But
don't expect a sympathetic response. When
http://www.worldnetdaily.com/news/article.asp?ARTICLE_ID=44762
Mark Fisher protested quizzing his 12-year-old
daughter about oral sex (among other topics), the
school authorities asserted their right to gather
such information without his consent. The
questionnaire is not limited to Massachusetts; it
is nationwide. And the 'problem' is not the
gathering of information but the denial of parental
rights and reasonable concerns.
The Shrewsbury questionnaire is part of
http://www.cdc.gov/HealthyYouth/yrbs/about_yrbss.htm
The Youth Risk Behavior Surveillance System (YRBSS)
that was established in 1990 by the Centers for
Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) to monitor
youth behaviors that influence health.
The CDC website offers a
http://www.cdc.gov/HealthyYouth/yrbs/pdfs/2005highschoolquestionnaire.pdf
22-page version [.pdf] of the YRBS, which
consists of 87 questions. Seven questions address
http://www.cdc.gov/HealthyYouth/yrbs/pdfs/trends-sex.pdf
sexual behavior. For example, the posted
questionnaire asks, "How old were you when you had
sexual intercourse for the first time?" And, was a
condom used?
Past this point, the facts become confused. For
one thing, there is no mention of oral sex on the
CDC site. Nevertheless, each school district
selected to participate in the YRBS is able to add
or subtract questions.
Given that Shrewsbury has refused to release its
version of the questionnaire, parents quite
reasonably suspect the worst. Without disclosure of
the survey to parents or the public, Fisher's
http://headlines.agapepress.org/archive/6/102005a.asp
claim that students are asked to identify
themselves as heterosexual, gay or bisexual
stands.
For another thing, the national YRBS claims to
report upon student in the 9th through 12th grades.
Fisher's daughter is in the 6th grade, where
students are typically 11 or 12-years-old. However,
other reports -- from
http://www.plannedparenthood.org/pp2/portal/files/portal/educationoutreach/educaorsdupate/update-031201.xml
Planned Parenthood, for example -- to confirm that
6th graders are being surveyed. In Shrewsbury
students in grades 6, 8, 9 and 11 took part.
Without parental oversight and with school
authorities unwilling to disclose questionnaires,
no one really knows what information is being
gathered.
Or rather, from the posted form, some things are
clear. School authorities wish to know if parents
have committed an illegal action.
Question 10: "During the past 30 days, how many
times did you ride in a car or other vehicle driven
by someone who had been drinking alcohol?"
Authorities also wish to know if your child has
committed an illegal act. Question 45: "How old
were you when you tried marijuana for the first
time?"
The posted form admonishes, "DO NOT write your
name on this survey.
The answers you give will be kept private." But
government information is notoriously non-private
and teachers are easily able to identify
respondents. Moreover, confidentiality tends to
erode easily when issues of child endangerment and
criminal conduct are raised. (Does anyone believe
that a child who circles "6 or more times" for
Question 14 -- "During the past 30 days, on how
many days did you carry a weapon such as a gun,
knife, or club on school property?" -- will not
have his or her file tagged?)
Nevertheless, the crux of the matter is not
whether information on 11-year-olds will be kept
private.
It is: does the government have a right to
side-step parental consent and collect such
information about children of any age without
parental permission. (By "such information" I mean
highly personal data and/or data that could
possibly lead to criminal prosecution.)
That is what Fisher is demanding of the
Massachusetts' Department of Education: active
parental involvement. At this point, state law
requires parents to explicit exempt their children
from programs involving sexuality. Fisher is
fighting for a bill that requires parental
permission before children are included.
Explicit permission is particularly important in
situations where parents seem to be -- in Fisher's
words -- "kept in the dark."
School committee President Deborah Peeples
reportedly explained that parents are permitted to
view the survey but they are not allowed to take a
copy home. Why? "It might be misinterpreted or
misunderstood or they could use it to direct their
children's responses." In short, parents might
discuss the sexual (and other) topics with their
children. Clearly, the school does not think such
discussion is appropriate; conversation about the
sexual survey is not appropriate between parent and
children but should remain between government and
child.
What can concerned parents do?
My solution is to remove your child from the
public school system and home school instead. If
you are unable to do so, then you should
aggressively demand to see every survey and
government form your child is filling out. YRBSS is
a nationwide survey, conducted every two years.
These and other forms may follow your child for the
rest of his or her life.
Do not believe that authorities, under the
promise of privacy, will take no note if your child
confesses to experimenting with drugs
--http://www.cdc.gov/HealthyYouth/yrbs/pdfs/2005highschoolquestionnaire.pdf
Questions 44 to 56. Tell your children to never
incriminate themselves.
Do not willingly give your money to schools that
deny parental rights. On June 9th, Shrewsbury
voters overwhelmingly
http://www.boston.com/news/local/articles/2005/06/09/voters_reject_override/
defeated a $1.5 million tax increase that would
have boosted finances to school programs. Although
school funding measures are almost always defeated
for financial reasons, use the occasion of a vote
to voice your discontent.
What happens to your children matters. Be nosy
about the forms they fill out; demand to review the
information officials want; when in doubt, refuse
permission; know the content of school
programs.
Be a nuisance. Be bossy. Be a genuine pain in
the tuckus. In short, be a parent. That's what your
child needs.
©2007, Wendy
McElroy
* * *
Wendy
McElroy is the editor of ifeminists.com
and a research fellow for The Independent Institute
in Oakland, Calif. She is the author and editor of
many books and articles, including her latest book,
Liberty for Women: Freedom and Feminism in the
21st Century. She lives with her husband in
Canada. E-Mail.
Also, see her daily blog at www.zetetics.com/mac
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