Remember This: Parents, Not the Government, Should Decide What’s Best for Their Kids

The Supreme Court is deciding whether or not parents in Montgomery County, Maryland, public schools should be allowed to opt out of their children being forced to participate in LGBTQ+ curriculum on religious grounds.  Currently, it is mandatory for children as young as kindergarten. 

A group of Christian, Jewish, and Muslim parents sued, thinking maybe children that young did not need to be exposed to such literature such as The Pride Puppy, Uncle Bobby’s Wedding, and Born Ready:  The True Story of a Boy Named Penelope.  Pride Puppy is being read to pre-kindergarteners.  All part of children being compelled to participate in the county’s “inclusivity agenda.”  

Let me state for the record, I have consistently supported gay marriage since the 1980s.  I have family members who are part of the LGBTQ+ communities.  I would like to think they know I love them exactly the same as I love everyone else in the family.  This piece is not about demonizing anyone.  Instead, it is about who should get to decide what when it comes to the education of our children.

The newest Supreme Court Justice, Ketanji Brown Jackson (who was unable to define a woman at her confirmation hearings) took what can only be described as a cavalier attitude during the proceedings.  Addressing the compulsory aspect of children being exposed to this content at such an early age, Justice Jackson offered the view that if parents did not approve of the curriculum, they could simply remove their children from these public schools and put them into either private schools or homeschool them.  Apparently, Justice Jackson did not get the memo that those options were beyond the financial and/or logistical reach of parents living outside the elitist bubble.

In Colorado, they are debating whether or not to make it a crime (child abuse) for “deadnaming” your child (calling them by the name given to them at birth, versus what the minor has chosen for themselves).

Several states allow students to access gender affirming care without the expressed consent of their parents.  Never mind that these same young people cannot go on a field trip without the signed approval of a parent or guardian.

The parents in Montgomery County are not suing to force the removal of these materials or classroom discussion of the subjects.  All they are asking is they be allowed to decide if their child will participate.

There are plenty of laws on the books that do a fairly decent job of making it illegal to abuse a child.  Redefining the term to allow the state to decide what children must be required to “learn” about sexuality is a whole new ballgame.  If the state can draw the lines, with no recourse, for parents on this subject, what else might be added to the category of child abuse?  Will it be okay for a parent to insist their eight-year-old child go to Sunday School?  Surely, if that child is old enough to decide for themselves what gender they are, they would be old enough to decide about their faith in the Almighty.

For too many years to count, the primary (and often exclusive) responsibility for deciding what was in the best interest of a child rested with that child’s parents or guardians.  Do we want to surrender that responsibility to the state?  Just what is it that the government does so well that we want to suddenly trust them to handle this challenge?  

Remember this: Trusting parents to do the right thing for their children is a much better bet than surrendering this responsibility to government, especially on important topics.  What do you think?