US public school lunacy

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Please accept my humble obeisances. All glories to Srila Prabhupada.

 

 

 

 

Sex Survey for Kids Rankles Parents

 

*Friday, November 11, 2005*

 

LOS ANGELES — Parents in Palmdale, Calif., are outraged about a *9th

Circuit Court of Appeals*

<javascript:siteSearch('9th%20Circuit%20Court%20of%20Appeals');> ruling

that says they have no constitutional right to prevent public schools

from providing information on sex to their children.

 

Twenty-five students at a Palmdale elementary school were given a survey

that included questions like, "How often do you think about sex," and

"Do you think about touching other people's private parts?" The parents

sued, saying that the contents of the survey were inappropriate for

their children.

 

The 9th Circuit ruled that "parents are possessed of no constitutional

right to prevent the public schools from providing information on sex to

their students in any forum or manner they select."

 

And the court agreed with the school district that it was a matter of

state, not federal law. Under *California education law*

<javascript:siteSearch('California%20education%20law');>, parents have

the right to opt their children out of learning material that they

aren't comfortable with.

 

Parents say they couldn't opt their kids out of the survey, because they

were told that their kids would be taking a survey about childhood

trauma, not sex. The school has since apologized, but the parents have

said that the issue has gone beyond a local mistake.

 

"Parents have no liberties, no rights over their children, and the

schools can teach anything to their children. So apparently for this

court, condoms for kindergarten students are okay, pornography is

permissible — parents cannot object," said Mathew Staver, an attorney

for the parents.

 

The 9th Circuit is no stranger to controversy. *Steven Reinhardt*

<javascript:siteSearch('Steven%20Reinhardt');>, the judge who wrote the

opinion for the Palmdale case, also authored a finding that said the

phrase "under God" in the Pledge of Allegiance was unconstitutional.

 

The Palmdale case, like the Pledge of Allegiance case before it, is

likely to head to the Supreme Court, and the publicity has many

lawmakers already promising to take action.