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Trouble with your school? Are they teaching "sex education" or other moral values against your wishes Trouble with your School? Are they teaching "sex education" or other moral values against your wishes. Dear parents It has come to the attention of the Family Rights Institute that schools appear to be usurping the authority of parents contrary to their clear rights as established in the Constitution, Article 42 Education 1. The State acknowledges that the primary and natural educator of the child is the Family and guarantees to respect the inalienable right and duty of parents to provide, according to their means, for the religious and moral, intellectual, physical and social education of their children. 4. The State shall provide for free primary education ... with due regard, however, for the rights of parents, especially in the matter of religious and moral formation. and, Article 2 of Protocol 1 of the European Convention on Human Rights states that: “No person shall be denied the right to education. In the exercise of any functions which it assumes in relation to education and to teaching, the State shall respect the right of parents to ensure such education and teaching is in conformity with their own religious and philosophical convictions.” Despite this schools are systematically attempting, sadly often successfully, to bully parents into submitting their authority to the school and in so doing undermining their relationship with their child and allowing the child to lose that all-important respect for the parents that a child must have in order for the parent to properly care and protect it. It is no wonder therefore that there is widespread and ever-increasing anti-social behaviour exhibited by these poor children who have been forced by the school to see their own parents, if they object, as misguided and 'dinosaurs' who have no relevance to their lives. Many parents are at their wits end in trying to fight the liberal/feminist bullies who appear to have so much power over their school. The school's response is always to ostracise the parent and drive a wedge between the child and its parents or even between parents. It is entirely unlawful for a school to do either. In fact it is unlawful for a school to teach anything at all without the prior informed consent of all parents. They simply do not have 'jurisdiction' to do such a thing. They must at all times only act "in loco parentis". In a first salvo back at your school, if they are bullying you, you might like to try sending them a letter, like the specimen one below, using some of the ideas it contains. All of the concepts used in it are backed up with evidence. Perhaps the most promising and easiest line to go down is that of the health risks. Each school year is a separate entity with a new curriculum so parents do not have to comply with whatever course the school took the previous year(s). Parents are entitled, in law, to be asked at the start of each new school year to consent to the proposed new curriculum in the area of philosophical, religious and moral formation. The Institute is looking for feedback from anyone who has had any trouble with their schools whatsoever in this area and we welcome parents sending us, in confidence, copies of correspondence they have had with the school. From this we will all be able to develop a clearer understanding of who is responsible for this bullying and how best we can deal with it. The law is clearly on our side so people should have the courage of their convictions to protect their children from the certain harm that pushing these programmes on families will cause. God Bless Roger Eldridge Director, Family Rights Institute **** Dear Principal/Chairperson of the Board of Management/Patron Can you please confirm that the school has a functioning Parents Association and that the parents on the Board of Management understand that their role is to act on behalf of the parents and to represent the wishes of the parents in all the school’s decision making but they can not over-ride the authority of any single parent, they do not act as representatives of a democracy of parents and they only have authority to make decisions with the unanimous informed consent of all the parents. As parents it is our duty and a function of our love to educate our children in the fullest sense, covering their social, physical, intellectual, religious and moral education and upbringing and obviously schooling is an important subset of that. One of the most important duties of a parent is to impart to their children a sense of their own value system which governs the way the family functions and which prepares the children to be an honoured member of a civilised society. Parents do this in their homes in a multitude of ways, especially in their own behaviour as a role model. The teachers in school act "in loco parentis" and literally are required to step into our shoes whilst our children are under their care for instruction in academic subjects. If the school is to additionally take on the task of teaching our children "values" it is obviously vital that there is no clash or contradiction to the value system that the child has assimilated from their family at home. Any deviation from the child's accepted home values will create turmoil in the mind of the child and will necessarily require the child to accept one set of values to the rejection of the other which will ultimately lead to serious problems at home or at school with discipline. It is imperative that if the school is to attempt to teach "values" that every parent is satisfied that the "values" that the school is intending to teach are consistent with those held in their home. What I need to know from any school that I commit to is that it fully respects this right of parents, under the law, to educate their children according to their own philosophical and religious convictions. It is of no interest for you to know the basis for my or any other parents’ principles and it is impractical, if not impossible, for you to do so. All that is important is that a child is not placed in a situation where the school teaches anything which is contradictory to the values and principles held by their parents at home. It is plainly harmful for a child to be led to believe either by the school or by the parent that the values held by the other are wrong as this will inevitably shake the child’s confidence and trust in one or the other - or both! Every school is obliged to publish their stated “ethos” in an effort to indicate to parents the value system that will form the basis for the school’s underlying management process. Unfortunately, no doubt as a result of amalgamation, the stated “ethos” of your school is indeterminate and is neither wholly secular nor Christian. As this has been in operation for a number of years would you please let me know if I can rely on your “ethos” being implemented in accordance with strict Christian/Catholic teachings or not. The teaching of values by schools became an acute problem with the introduction of the questionable idea that schools should teach values, especially in the area of sexuality and morals. Given that there is an attempt to force the RSE/SPHE programme on children - and the core reason for having decided to do so must be questioned as to who assumed the authority to initiate such a national programme in the first place - there is a necessity for absolute transparency by the school as to their intentions and any proposed programme must be made fully available - including guidelines, teaching materials and resources - to every parent for their close scrutiny. In this regard the Department of Education and Science and the NCCA have assured me that, whilst the SPHE programme itself is compulsory, the make-up of the programme is arbitrary and no school has any obligation to teach any of the values-laden modules of RSE/SPHE. I am aware that schools are now attempting to use third parties to present elements of the programme, but without the prior approval of parents or the official approval of the Department of Education, presumably to deflect liability from themselves. To leave our children in the hands of an unknown person who is unaccountable and free to guide them in whatever way they see fit is madness when we are told every day of the dangers of paedophiles. This unauthorised use of third parties, especially where no teacher accompanies the children and parents are physically prevented from observing, is an unlawful abdication of duty by the school and must be stopped immediately. The Department have informed me that before any programme can be started every parent must be fully satisfied that the values contained in the school's programme and all the teaching materials meet with their approval. This has prompted them to suggest that every school set up a "Policy Committee" to co-ordinate the design and content of a policy for SPHE, for every academic year, that meets the approval of every parent and that is additionally fully in line with the “ethos” administered by the Board of Management. To achieve this, parents need to be given access to the teaching materials that the Principal and teachers have themselves chosen to deliver to our children and for the Board of Management and parents to veto whatever they feel are inappropriate or consider too advanced for the maturity of their child. The ‘upside’ of this is that the more material that is considered unsuitable, the more time that can be devoted to the essential core subjects which every parent wants more time spent on. The most important feature is that no parent should feel that any programme taught in their school should be in conflict with their own value system imparted at home and that it is also fully approved by the Patron and every member of the Board of Management. Can you please confirm that in your school there will be no attempt to deliver such values-laden programmes without my informed consent if I enroll my children in your school. The suggestion that parents and their children should be sidelined by being forced to withdraw their child from aspects of the programme is unacceptable for many reasons including the following: 1. According to the NCCA the SPHE/RSE programme is designed to integrate with much of the rest of the curriculum. This means that it would be almost impossible for a parent or their child to know in advance when aspects of the programme were to be delivered. Withdrawing a child for considerable parts of the school day would be excessively disruptive and upsetting for the child and is therefore not acceptable. 2. It is recognised that whenever a child is singled out for special treatment, for example by forcing her to be withdrawn from a class, it creates a high risk that the child itself will suffer as a result of teasing and bullying. As a result of the withdrawal, the child and their Family are also identified as holding different views to the teaching staff and other families. This is an abuse of the power of the school and is tantamount to bullying and holding Families up to potential ridicule and isolation. Children, especially those who are to be exposed to RSE/SPHE programmes, are at a vulnerable age in terms of sensitivity to belonging to their peer group. There is enormous pressure on them to conform with their friends and for them to rebel against their parents rather than look different. Surely it is not the purpose of the school's policy to drive a wedge between parents and their children and to alienate parents and their children from the body of the school. Any policy that would have that effect is surely an act of bullying and coercement and not acceptable. Please confirm that you do not operate such a policy in your school. We all wish that children respect the school as acting in loco parentis and we wish that children consider what they are taught at school to be equally as legitimate as what they are taught at home. In fact by sending our children to school we are in fact giving the school, in the eyes of our children, the imprimatur of legitimacy. For the school to teach anything contrary to that taught by the parent is to put the parent into the position whereby they are made to look ‘illegitimate’ or a crank by attention being drawn to them holding different views to everyone else, even to those of the majority. Parents send their children to school to be taught academic subjects. We do not sign up for the school to take over our roles as the moral guides to our children. That task remains the right and duty of every parent. This is easily shown by seeing that if a child commits some crime it is the parents who are held responsible for not teaching them right from wrong, not the school. If the school would like to teach some values, strictly in conformity with its stated ethos, it can do so but only with the full knowledge and approval of all the parents at the time of enrolment. Please confirm I can be assured, if I choose your school, that until an approved policy of SPHE/RSE is created with full parental consultation, with any parent exercising the right of veto if necessary, your school will refrain from teaching this programme. What we all want is for there to be nothing but harmony and good relations between the parents and the body of the school. If aspects of the RSE/SPHE programme threaten that harmony they are surely unacceptable. There remains one last thing to be said about these programmes and that concerns the very serious matter of our children’s health. This is obviously an area in which parents must exercise great care. Fortunately, due to the availability of information over the internet, we are very aware of the latent dangers associated with any form of sexuality outside of a monogamous Marriage. The figures for the increase in Sexually Transmitted Diseases are frightening and underline the high risk of infertility, cancers and AIDS that result no matter what apparent precautions are taken. As this is such an explosive area in terms of liability can you please provide me with evidence that the school is fully covered with indemnity insurance if any information they impart to children at your school directly or indirectly leads to them suffering some consequential harm, either physically or emotionally at any stage later in their lives. It is important to emphasise that this is not just to my children as what happens to the rest of the children in the school will inevitably likely affect my children’s chances of eventually marrying and founding a family. I apologise for this letter being so long but the responsibility for that lies with whoever is trying to force their ideas of sexuality and relationships unlawfully down the throat of every family in the country. To sum up so that I can know that this will not happen in your school - Please confirm that the school has a functioning Parents Association and that the parents on the Board of Management understand that their role is to act on behalf of the parents and to represent the wishes of the parents in all the school’s decision making. - Please confirm that in your school there will be no attempt to deliver such values-laden programmes as RSE/SPHE without my informed consent if I enroll my children in your school and that the school: - will not use third parties to present elements of the programme without the prior approval of all parents or the official approval of the Department of Education - will not leave our children in the hands of an unknown person who is unaccountable and free to guide them in whatever way they see fit especially where no teacher accompanies the children and parents are physically prevented from observing. - Please confirm I can be assured, if I choose your school, that until an approved policy of SPHE/RSE is created with full parental consultation, with any parent exercising the right of veto if necessary, your school will refrain from teaching this programme. - Please confirm that you do not operate a policy of seeking the withdrawal of children from classes if a parent is unhappy with what is being taught which could potentially drive a wedge between parents and their children and alienate parents and their children from the body of the school. - Please provide me with evidence that the school is fully covered with indemnity insurance if any information they impart to children at your school directly or indirectly leads to them suffering some consequential harm, either physically or emotionally at any stage later in their lives. God bless |