Parental Rights

Photo by Caleb Oquendo (Pexels)

One of the more disturbing articles to surface of late came from the pages of the New York Times, written by Katie J.M. Baker. Here’s how it began:

Jessica Bradshaw found out that her 15-year-old identified as transgender at school after she glimpsed a homework assignment with an unfamiliar name scrawled at the top.

When she asked about the name, the teenager acknowledged that, at his request, teachers and administrators at his high school in Southern California had for six months been letting him use the boy’s bathroom and calling him by male pronouns.

Mrs. Bradshaw was confused: Didn’t the school need her permission, or at least need to tell her?

It did not, a counselor later explained, because the student did not want his parents to know. District and state policies instructed the school to respect his wishes.

“There was never any word from anyone to let us know that on paper, and in the classroom, our daughter was our son,” Mrs. Bradshaw said.

From that beginning the article delved into the role of schools and parents in a child’s life, with parents often on the losing side. The Bradshaws were stunned to have been kept in the dark, particularly when their child asked for hormones and surgery to remove their breasts. They knew, as parents, that their child had been diagnosed as being on the autism spectrum, having attention deficit hyperactivity disorder, PTSD and anxiety. They knew, as parents, that their child had struggled with loneliness during the pandemic. They knew, as parents, that their child had already changed their name and gender identity repeatedly. 

All to say, Mrs. Bradshaw said, “It should have been a decision we made as a family.”

Many public schools throughout the United States allow students to socially transition – including changing their name, pronouns, gender expression – without parental consent or even knowledge. It is often viewed as an important step for the school to take if the student does not feel supported at home for such choices. In other words, the parents would object so the school steps in and takes over the parenting role. The school system, not the parents, know best. The parents won’t allow a child to transition, so the school does.

This is causing many to rally around the idea of “parental rights,” an umbrella term for ensuring that parents get to make decisions related to their child’s upbringing. And as the New York Times notes, the concerns are beginning to “cut through the liberal and conservative divide.” Many “self-described liberal parents said they registered as independents or voted for Republican candidates for the first time as a result of this issue.”

The argument in favor of school’s intervening is the same rationale used for reporting physical abuse to authorities—the safety of the child. Only now, what is deemed “unsafe” or “abusive” goes beyond observed bruises to include anything a school deems harmful to that child, including the inability to change gender. “My job, which is a public service, is to protect kids,” said a non-binary history teacher in California who has helped students socially transition at school without their parent’s knowledge. “Sometimes, they need protection from their own parents.”

Or consider the photo of a teacher’s flyer posted at school that was included in a lawsuit filed against a school district in Wisconsin: “If your parents aren’t accepting of your identity, I’m your mom now.”

Let’s pray that collectively we will have the cultural sense to stand up and say,

“No, you are not.”

James Emery White

Sources

Katie J.M. Baker, “When Students Change Gender Identity, and Parents Don’t Know,” The New York Times, January 22, 2023, read online.