|
Published: September 2, 2010
How to Avoid Witchcraft or X-rated Films for Your Kids
California Bishops Back Opt-Out
The following was prepared by the California Catholic Conference [of bishops] education committee (July 2010) and posted on the bishops’ site this summer.
Most of California's Catholic families with school-age children choose to enroll them in the state's public schools-rather than in Catholic or other private schools. However, many families are unfamiliar with the laws that govern what their child will be allowed to do-or asked to do-and unaware of certain ideas and information their child will be taught while at school.
WHAT THE CHURCH TEACHES: As Catholics, we strongly believe that parents are the first and foremost educators of their children. The Catholic Catechism states that families are the "privileged community" where children are meant to grow in wisdom, stature, and grace (# 2206-2209). The Church counsels us to work with public authorities to ensure and protect the rights of parents.
WHAT THE LAW SAYS: In addition our federal constitution supports the concept that parents have the right to "direct" their children's education. In 1925 the U. S. Supreme Court affirmed unanimously in Pierce v. Society of Sisters that "the fundamental theory of liberty upon which all governments in this Union repose excludes any general power of the State to standardize its children by forcing them to accept instruction from public teachers only."
OBJECTIONABLE EDUCATION: According to California law (Education Code Sections 51240, 51513, and 51938) a parent or guardian may request that his or her child be excused from any class, assembly, presentation, discussion, project, survey, extracurricular activity or program presented by the school district and/or by its agents which involve any of the following:
• • Sex or family life education
• • AIDs or HIV education
• • Acquisition and/or use of birth control devices or drugs
• • Abortion
• • Death education of any type including "assisted suicide"
• • Homosexuality
• • Sexual perversions
• • Showing of R, NC-17 or X-rated films
• • Meditation, yoga, conjuring of spirits
• • Witchcraft
• • Counseling except as recommended by the student's physician
• • Questionnaires, role playing or other strategies to examine the moral and religious beliefs of the student and/or the student's family members
• • Diversity education which teaches tolerance for variant lifestyles
•
By law, at the beginning of each school year, public schools send home many documents. In one of these documents, the school district will be giving notification that the school assumes approval of all of the school's curriculum and activities.
In other words, if a parent or guardian does not approve of any of the topics mentioned above he or she must notify the school. If the parent or guardian does nothing the school officials can and will assume approval or an "opt-in" to the school's entire program.
However, the language explaining the school's policy regarding "opt-in" and "opt-out" is written in "legalese" and can easily be overlooked or misunderstood by families.
IN PLAIN WORDS: Parents or guardians who object to certain education offered to their children must specifically request that they be excused, i.e., they must "opt-out," or the school assumes that permission for the students to participate has been granted.
• • In order to make that "specific request" a parent or guardian must complete an "opt-out" form. A standard "opt-out" form can be obtained from the school office.
Posted Thursday, September 02, 2010 6:28 AM By Sawyer
Many of the things that the bishops are concerned about that misinform or mislead students are also being introduced at Catholic schools in religion classes. At the school where I teach, "diversity education" has been all the rage and the message of tolerance for homosexual lifestyles is communicated implicitly. Yoga has been offered to teachers during faculty retreats. Teachers are open about being in same-sex unions. The bishops ought to take a close look at what's happening in their own backyards at their own Catholic schools. Dissidents are teaching children leftism under the guise of teaching the Catholic religion.
|
Posted Thursday, September 02, 2010 6:42 AM By ted
It would be far more respectful of parental rights to require them to "opt in" to these activities or curriculum they may find objectionable. The school district can and should send out a notice of anything to which a parent might not want their child exposed, and not allow the child to be exposed unless a parental signature is on file. That would be the only way to safeguard compliance with the parents' rightful prerogatives. If that causes more work for the school district, maybe they will actually teach the kids to read, do some math, learn History - remember? The things we actually send our kids to school for?
|
Posted Thursday, September 02, 2010 8:22 AM By JLS
Why are not government lawyers supplied and available to represent the parents in these opt out situations? Isn't this a job for the local politicians? Oh wait ... it's that the parents do not have sufficient education and due to being hypnotized by TV they believe everything the school administrators tell them; how could I have forgotten this?
|
Posted Thursday, September 02, 2010 8:50 AM By David
My children all attended public high school after Catholic elementary. Each year we used the Opt-Out form available online from the Pacific Justice Institute and this was a great help. We never encountered opposition or refusal to abide by this form which so wonderfully and completely covers all the possibilities.
|
Posted Thursday, September 02, 2010 9:48 AM By Brad
As a product of rural CA public schools in the 80s (relatively conservative in time and place, actually!) I can tell everyone that it hardly matters if parents opt out. Two minutes after the official discussion has ceased, the socialist athiest who is teaching your children will again lower the sludge pipe into their minds. He has them for 8 hours per day and whatever is in his mind is being fed into theirs all day long for 15 years. And that's before college.
|
Posted Thursday, September 02, 2010 10:09 AM By NUTUNE
Forms sent home should be on different colors of paper. Opting Outs could be sent home in RED; if parents' choices are not considered, then notices can be sent to school personnel on PINK paper. No matter how insensitive one is to color in education, pink is still not a welcome color to employees. (Board members still work FOR parents.)
|
Posted Thursday, September 02, 2010 10:28 AM By WOODY GUIDRY
As a CATHOLIC PARENT, I was always able to monitor my own child- and to read a bishop's message. Congratulations to these bishops who have made this in-depth statement! If I don't get satisfaction from my kid's school, I don't think I should feel any necessity to run to the bishop because of something needing attention to a school "in his own back yard", unless there is some mistake that only he can rectify. Catholic schools are readily affected by parents' concerns, especially if lay people are employees.
|
Posted Thursday, September 02, 2010 10:31 AM By Dennis B
"Most of California's Catholic families with school-age children choose to enroll them in the state's public schools-rather than in Catholic or other private schools" makes it sound as if this is their priority. I would think that if the parents could afford it they would choose parochial schools.
|
Posted Thursday, September 02, 2010 3:34 PM By Sawyer
Dennis B: you wrote that if parents could afford Catholic school they would send their kids there. Are you aware that tuition at Catholic high schools can run between $7,000 and $16,000 per year per child? How is a normal family supposed to be able to afford that? Catholic schools are going to price themselves beyond the ability of Catholic families to pay, and then they will simply be elite private schools operated by a Catholic diocese.
|
Posted Thursday, September 02, 2010 7:44 PM By Abeca Christian
Sawyer is right and also many Catholic private schools don't really teach true Catholicism. They have lost the real mission of the church.
|
Posted Friday, September 03, 2010 11:41 AM By t. lewis
Obama placed a homosexual at the helm as the school czar. Why does he surround himself with so many gays is unknown, but a pedophile in charge of our public schools?
|
Posted Saturday, September 04, 2010 2:59 PM By Abeca Christian
t. lewis people who usually sell their souls to the devil usually surround themselves with immoral people, that is how it works, they click together like flies. They gain power here on earth but in the end their very own power won't save them from the fires of hell nor will their foes/followers get them to heaven.
|
Posted Saturday, September 04, 2010 5:57 PM By bettybbret
you're right Abeca Christian abd isn't it sad that parents no longer can trust Catholic schools to teach Catholicism. My daughter came home from Catholic school one day and told me that Miss So-and-so told the class that she doesn't believe that Jesus really died on Calvary. She believes that He went into some sort of a trance and that's why people believe that he
rose from the dead but actually he just woke up from the trance. How's that for Catholic education?
|
Posted Saturday, September 04, 2010 9:08 PM By C.B.
It seems like Miss so-and-so was the one in a trance.
|
Posted Saturday, September 04, 2010 11:14 PM By Abeca Christian
bettybbret have you thought about writing to the bishop? Did you complain to the pastor of that Catholic school? I'm sorry that your daughter had to hear heresy, praise God she came to you and let you know. All that money we pay into a private Catholic education and we get watered down and even heretical teachings. Gee whiz, so shameful.
|
Posted Sunday, September 05, 2010 6:58 AM By Mark from PA
Betty, was her teacher a Catholic? They should always have Catholics teaching Religion in Catholic schools. I don't know where her teacher ever got such an idea as that. I don't know of any Christian Church that teaches that. It sounds like the teacher needs some religious education. Doesn't she say the Creed every week at Mass?
|
Posted Sunday, September 05, 2010 3:12 PM By JLS
bettybbret, sounds like that teacher replaced the Creed with the old song, "Life is but a dream, shaboom shaboom". The "trance" thing about Jesus is an old one; St Augustine dealt with it, and so have many saints. In today's world, teaching such a false concept serves as a gateway to new age religions and various Protestant way station type religions. But one thing to be sure of is that your daughter heard it correctly. I'd make sure. If it turns out to be an accurate account, then carry your Cross up the path, first to the teacher, then the administrator and then the bishop. Don't settle for lip service. If they balk, then demand all your money back ... after all they have betrayed their end of the contract.
|
Posted Monday, September 06, 2010 10:08 PM By Anne
To avoid our own errors, errors by others, and errors of "enemies within" the Catholic Church, insist that all upper grades of Catholic High Schools and CDC classes have the students use the "Catechism of the Catholic Church, Second Edition" as a TEXT.
Also, have a CCC in your home.
If teachers teach anything in CONFLICT with the CCC, tell your Principal or Pastor. If that does not work, put it in writing to your Bishop, if that does not work send the information to the US Papal Nuncio and the Pope. I can guarantee that the last one will work - or some will be without jobs.
Parents will be held responsible with God to insure their Faith and Morals was correctly taught.
|
© California Catholic Daily 2010. All Rights Reserved.
|