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Bypassing Parents
Penna Dexter
Where do public school bureaucrats get the idea that they, not parents, have the final authority to decide, in some very sensitive areas, what is best for children? In Madison, Wisconsin, this attitude is some parents’ worst nightmare as teachers help children begin gender transitions without notifying their parents.
Fourteen Wisconsin parents, representing eight families, are bringing a lawsuit against the Madison Metropolitan School District. They are asking a state court to halt a district policy whereby teachers are instructed to assist and encourage students who wish to assume a different gender identity at school, while living as their biological sex at home.
In an affidavit he filed in Dane County Circuit Court, Dr. Stephen Levine, a distinguished fellow of the American Psychological Association, points out that this is the wrong way to treat troubled and questioning kids. “Extended secrecy,” he writes, “and a ‘double life’ concealed from the parents is rarely the path to psychological health. For this reason, at least,” he says, “schools should not support deceit of parents.”
Attorneys from Alliance Defending Freedom and the Wisconsin Institute for Law & Liberty are representing the parents. Digging in, the district stands by its policy as a way to fulfill its “responsibility to uphold the right of every child to be educated in a safe, all-inclusive, and non-discriminatory learning environment.”
Safe?
Variations of this policy exist in Michigan, New Jersey, and California. As of January 26, the official position of the California Teachers Association is that school clinics are needed, in part, so students can pursue gender transition. The Association made clear its goal is to “allow trans students to begin... hormone therapy without the consent of both legal guardians." The idea is to remove what they call the "barrier of parental permission." This would extend the freedom students currently possess to leave class without parental consent for birth control and abortions.
Educators have no business usurping parental authority to make these life-altering decisions.
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