The American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) is working to usurp parental rights in Utah.
The ACLU contacted the Davis School District and demanded that it allow children to access a homosexual advocacy book without the knowledge of their parents.
The Davis School District in Utah has a clear policy that requires parental consent before children can check out the book, entitled In Our Mothers’ House, from elementary school libraries.
“Public schools should not surrender to ACLU intimidation when it asks them to expose children to sexual content without parental knowledge,” says Alliance Defense Fund (ADF) legal counsel Jeremy Tedesco.
“Parents, not the ACLU, should decide whether young children have access to this type of propaganda, which is obviously aimed at re-educating children regarding the nature of the family. The law clearly upholds the right and duty of schools to protect children and respect the role of their parents.”
Twenty-five parents signed a petition objecting to the book’s accessibility to children without parental consent. That petition was taken to the school after a kindergarten boy from Windridge Elementary School brought the book home. As a result, the district now requires a signed parental permission slip before any student can check out the book.
As the ADF letter explains, U.S. Supreme Court precedent supports the district’s decision to require parental consent before providing young students with materials that touch upon human sexuality.
“Parents have the ‘fundamental right’ to ‘direct the upbringing and education of children under their control.’ The District is right to leave such decisions to them,” states the ADF letter. “It is ‘established beyond debate’ that ‘parents have the primary role…in the upbringing of their children.’”
“Children in elementary schools are not mentally or emotionally prepared to deal with topics involving human sexuality without careful guidance from their parents,” concludes Tedesco. “We hope that the district will continue to act in the best educational interests of its youngest students and not concede to the ACLU’s unreasonable demands.”
