Home School Heartbeat Radio Program

Michael Farris:
How should we as homeschoolers view the federal courts’ treatment of parents’ rights when the question is directing children’s education in the public schools?

Well, first, we should be very glad that we have decided to homeschool our children. If any parent still believes that they have a constitutional right to direct their children’s education inside a public school, the cases we’ve examined this week demonstrate that such a view is a fantasy. It shouldn’t be this way. Parents of public school students should be able to decide to remove their children from sex education surveys and assemblies. But according to the federal courts, they have no such right.

Second, we must be on the alert. Saying that the state can force children to learn explicit sex education material if they are enrolled in the public schools is a short step from saying that the state can force all children to receive such instruction. If we don’t take alarm when other parents’ rights are being treated so badly, we should not be surprised when our own rights are invaded. The courts’ claims in these cases amount to a broad claim that the state has the power over the minds of all children.

Unless parents’ rights are treated on a par with other fundamental rights, the government will continue to demand more and more authority over our children. The only true safeguard is to put parents’ rights into the text of the United States Constitution, a course of action we must pursue tirelessly. I’m Mike Farris.