LANDMARK RESOLUTION TO PROTECT CHILDREN FROM UNSUITABLE CONTENT — PASSED BY REPUB. NAT. COMM.

I don’t care whether you are liberal/progressive; moderate or conservative. I don’t care if you are Democrat, Republican, Libertarian, Green or Socialist. When it comes to children we MUST be on the same page. We MUST protect our children and grandchildren and great-grandchildren from educational content that is unsuitable. What’s unsuitable? There we can have a discussion and agree or disagree. Parents are in control. Parents have the choice. Parents are responsible. Education uses an “Opt-Out” model. Educators put content into place and then it’s up to parents to find out about it and then take action to have their child/ren excluded if they don’t like the content. Instead we should be demanding an “Opt-In” process that requires schools to notify parents of content and obtain approval to teach it.

In the following story we learn that one political party has taken the bold step to publicly take a stance on protecting children from unsuitable educational content. Please take the time to read and then ask the leaders of you political party to do the same. Put the mental healthy and safety of children ahead of political philosophy.

Jul 22, 2018 by Donna Garner Education Policy Commentator EducationViews.org

“Landmark Resolution To Protect Children from Unsuitable Content — Passed by Republican National Committee”

From Cynthia Dunbar, National Committeewoman

7.20.18

A landmark Resolution supporting parental rights was unanimously adopted this week by the Republican National Committee. Cynthia Dunbar, National Committeewoman for Virginia and sponsor of the Resolution stated, “I’m thrilled we were able to get this Resolution adopted. This should not be a partisan issue. Parents everywhere deserve the right to know what their children are being taught and have an opportunity to consent to it. Passage of this Resolution is a huge victory and will hopefully serve as the impetus for state legislation across the nation.”

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7.20.18 — REPUBLICAN NATIONAL COMMITTEE

RESOLUTION TO PROTECT STUDENTS FROM EXPOSURE TO POTENTIALLY UNSUITABLE CONTENT BY SUPPORTING A PARENT’S RIGHT TO GRANT PRIOR WRITTEN CONSENT FOR SEX EDUCATION

 WHEREAS, parents are a child’s first and foremost educators, and have primary responsibility for the education of their children. Parents have a right to direct their children’s education, care, and upbringing; (1)

 WHEREAS, education is much more than schooling. Education is the whole range of activities by which families and communities transmit to a younger generation, not just knowledge and skills, but ethical and behavioral norms and traditions. It is the handing over of a cultural identity; (2)

 WHEREAS, American education has, for the last several decades, been the focus of constant controversy, as centralizing forces from outside the family and community have sought to remake education in order to remake America. This has done immense damage; (3)

 WHEREAS, school administrators routinely ask parents for their prior written permission for students to participate in various school-related instruction and activities, including, but not limited to: field trips, sports, and distribution of medicine;

 WHEREAS, parents and their students should be afforded the same respect with regard to the increasingly sensitive and controversial nature of human sexuality instruction;

 WHEREAS, much of the content in human sexuality instruction centers on contentious and sensitive issues, including but not limited to: abortion, birth control, sexual activity, sexual orientation, transgenderism, and/or gender identity;

 WHEREAS, the content often includes a personal analysis or survey that reflects or influences the student’s opinions on sensitive topics such as religious beliefs and practices, sexual orientation, and/or sexual activity;

 WHEREAS, most states grant an obscenity exemption that allows content that would otherwise be deemed harmful to minors to be disseminated for educational purposes, creating the potential for inappropriate content to be included within human sexuality instruction;

 WHEREAS, such information, content, or ideology is most appropriately placed within the discretion of the parents or guardians;

 WHEREAS, the current opt-out paradigm assumes parental consent to student participation, allowing schools to automatically enroll students in potentially explicit, sensitive, and/or controversial human sexuality instruction without prior written permission;

 WHEREAS, human sexuality instruction frequently places the wishes and concerns of the parents and/or guardians at odds with those of the school district; and

 WHEREAS, the wishes and concerns of the parents and/or guardians are preeminent to those of the School District and should be acknowledged by simply affording parents and/or guardians the right to grant permission for such instruction; therefore

 RESOLVED, that public schools must disclose the content contained within human sexuality instruction to the parents and/or guardians of all unemancipated students and shall only enroll those students whose parents and/or guardians provide prior written permission to opt their student into human sexuality instruction;

 RESOLVED, that the default shall be that no human sexuality instruction shall be provided to any student not yet emancipated without prior written consent from their parent and/or guardian, making an opt-out default an insufficient protection for either the safety of the student or the rights of the parent;

 RESOLVED, that all state legislatures are encouraged to enact legislation that implements these notices and safeguards to protect students from exposure to potentially inappropriate and salacious content and to acknowledge the right of the parents and/or guardians to direct their children’s education, care, and upbringing, including their right to protect them from exposure to content they find unsuitable.

 1 Platform of the Republican Party, Issued by the Republican National Committee, page 33 (2016, Cleveland, Ohio).

2 Id.

3 Id.

 Adopted by the Republican National Committee