AFR News: Parental Rights- Did the Whole World Just Go Crazy? Call Today!

May 28, 2014

Did the Whole World Just Go Crazy? Call Today!

Every once in a while, so many senseless things happen all at once that you have to ask yourself if maybe the whole world suddenly “went nuts” and simply forgot to tell you about it. Last Friday was one of those days.

In New York, a fuming mom went to the news after her slim nine-year-old brought home a “Fitnessgram” from school warning that the girl was “overweight” based on her BMI, or body mass index. The girl is 4’1” and weighs 66 pounds.

Twitter photo of the student classified as "overweight" by New York school district

In Connecticut, a couple filed suit against their local school system and four staff members for “indoctrinating their three daughters into a religious cult.”

In Colorado, a second-grade boy drew a handgun during an assignment to sketch what he saw in the clouds. That is “drew” with a pencil, not “drew” from a holster. The student was punished for his sketch.

In Pennsylvania, a math teacher was charged with having a sexual relationship with a 14-year-old student. Yes, another one.

And it’s not just in our country. A bill being considered in the United Kingdom would send parents to jail for up to ten years for harming their child’s “physical, intellectual, emotional, social, or behavioral development.” Some fear parents could face jail time just for hurting their child’s feelings. You know, hampering their emotional development.

As these stories crossed my desk one after another on Friday, I thought two things. First, did the whole world just go crazy? All of these in a single day? Really??

Second, we truly and desperately need the Parental Rights Amendment (PRA), and we need it soon!

Adding to the U.S. Constitution the fundamental right of parents to direct the upbringing, education, and care of their children will strengthen the role of parents in every situation where that role is currently eroding. We can’t say definitively that the PRA would reverse any one of these events (except to keep such laws as the UK is considering from coming here). But these stories show the insanity that takes root in our institutions once parents are no longer allowed.

Parents generally bring common sense and wisdom to local education decision-making. Most importantly, they provide accountability – but only if they are not powerless themselves.

The whole world hasn’t gone crazy yet. A large majority still support the traditional right of parents to make decisions for their children. But the time to preserve these rights is growing short.

Action Item

Please call today and urge your congressman to cosponsor HJRes. 50, the Parental Rights Amendment to the U.S. Constitution. We are still 24 cosponsors away from our goal of 100 to move the PRA into a committee hearing this summer!

First, you can check to see if your congressman is already a cosponsor by clicking on your state at ParentalRights.org/states. Then you will also find there his or her DC office number. Or you can call them through the Capitol Switchboard: 202-224-3121.

In your own words, urge them to cosponsor HJRes. 50 before their next recess this weekend. They can sign on by contacting Martha Van Lieshout in Mark Meadows’ office.

If you don’t know what else to say, you might point out to them that every day we hear of schools banning parents, of teachers abusing students, of doctors over-riding parents’ wishes. “Zero-tolerance” has become “zero sense,” while states are taking children away from their parents over conflicting medical diagnoses from two different hospitals. When is enough enough? We need to protect the rights of parents to protect their children from government overreach while enough of us still remember what that means.

Please take a moment right now to call your congressman, and then to forward this email to your family and friends. Then check back at 4pra.us/house to see the list of cosponsors grow.

Only by all of us taking action together can we halt the insanity before it becomes the new normal.

Sincerely,

Michael Ramey
Director of Communications & Research

Share This Online