Parents who object to their children being exposed to books at school that favorably portray same-sex couples and homosexual “marriage” should remove their children from public school, the 1st U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals ruled Thursday.
Parents in the Lexington, Mass., school district had argued that reading pro-gay books like King and King and Who’s in a Family? to kindergartners, first- and second- graders was an attempt to indoctrinate their children.
But the court ruled that “public schools are not obliged to shield individual students from ideas which potentially are religiously offensive.” It also said that a teacher reading a few books, “even if to a young and impressionable child, does not constitute ‘indoctrination.’ ”
Bruce Hausknecht, judicial analyst for Focus on the Family Action, said the threat to parental rights in this country has reached a dangerous point and must be addressed before it's too late.
“There have been several federal circuit court decisions in recent years severely restricting what the Supreme Court has called the fundamental right of parents ‘to make decisions concerning the care, custody and control of their children,’” he said. “Parents have been told their only options are to take their children out of public school or go through a political process that is stacked against them.”
Candi Cushman, education analyst for Focus Action, said parents do have choices if they discover homosexuality being promoted in their children's schools.
“Parents and students have the power to challenge the school to give equal access to books and speakers who can give countering opinions on why embracing homosexuality is not the best choice for kids, as well as research-based explanations of how man-woman marriage strengthens society,” she said. “In light of the court’s comments that public schools are not obliged to shield students from controversial ideas, the parents would have good arguing grounds.”
FOR MORE INFORMATION
There is help available for parents who feel powerless over homosexual indoctrination.
Focus on the Family’s Love Won Out and Exodus International can help parents find pro-family and pro-marriage materials to offer to their children's schools.
(NOTE: Referral to Web sites not produced by Focus on the Family is for informational purposes only and does not necessarily constitute an endorsement of the sites' content.)
