# What do you know about parentalrights.org?



## 2 in August

A friend of mine just sent me a link to this website http://www.parentalrights.org/ It looks like something I'd definately support, but I want to make sure it's legit and see what others know about the organization.

Thanks!


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## sebandg'smama

Well based on this they are homophobic.

Quote:

A FATHER SPEAKS OUT... AND GETS ARRESTED

MASSACHUSETTS-When his 5-year-old son came home from a school with a "Diversity Book Bag" including a book to be shared with his parents, David Parker began reading. He was distressed to find that one of the books, titled "Who's in a Family" depicted two families led by homosexual partners.

Reluctant to expose his son to homosexuality at such an early age, David immediately contacted the school, intending to establish a dialogue as a concerned parent. His well-meant call, however, swiftly escalated into a dispute which pitted the father against the school.

After refusing to leave a scheduled meeting with school officials until the matter was resolved, David was charged with criminal trespassing and spent the night in jail-simply because he was concerned about the material being presented to his son.

A no-trespass order was issued, prohibiting Parker from setting foot on school grounds. While a local court has dropped the criminal trespassing charge against the father, he has procedurally been placed on "pre-trial probation" for one year.

SOURCE: http://www.worldnetdaily.com/news/ar...RTICLE_ID=4694


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## Erinok

Quote:


Originally Posted by *sebandg'smama* 
Well based on this they are homophobic.


I Think (and I only glanced briefly at the site) that it is more about the parent having the RIGHT to teach their children as they see appropriate. not necessarily agreeing or disagreeing with the fathers position.

having worked in the child welfare field for a few years, I think parents need to be concerned about their rights. I've seen children removed from their home for really no reason and schools reporting parents to CPS out of spite if the parent stirred up trouble. here are 2 examples.
1. school put a child in special ed wihout even telling the parents. the parents became angry and started a petition. This had happened to 9 families. all 9 families were reported to CPS. In the case I was familiar with, the children were removed (even though the case was unfounded)
2. a 5 year old was molested by another child IN THE Classroom (by another child known to have problems and was supposed to have 1:1 supervision, which he obviously did not). Mother showed up with a child advocate. The school reported the mother to CPS saying that she used drugs and failed to notice symptoms of sexual abuse (they left out that it happened in the school.)

I find this terrifying


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## purple_kangaroo

Quote:


Originally Posted by *Erinok* 
I Think (and I only glanced briefly at the site) that it is more about the parent having the RIGHT to teach their children as they see appropriate. not necessarily agreeing or disagreeing with the fathers position.

having worked in the child welfare field for a few years, I think parents need to be concerned about their rights. I've seen children removed from their home for really no reason and schools reporting parents to CPS out of spite if the parent stirred up trouble. here are 2 examples.
1. school put a child in special ed wihout even telling the parents. the parents became angry and started a petition. This had happened to 9 families. all 9 families were reported to CPS. In the case I was familiar with, the children were removed (even though the case was unfounded)
2. a 5 year old was molested by another child IN THE Classroom (by another child known to have problems and was supposed to have 1:1 supervision, which he obviously did not). Mother showed up with a child advocate. The school reported the mother to CPS saying that she used drugs and failed to notice symptoms of sexual abuse (they left out that it happened in the school.)

I find this terrifying

ITA. I've been reading about a case where the kids were removed from a home after one child was bitten by someone else's dog, in someone else's home, and the social services are making it a condition of the children's return that they have to start teaching sex education and alternative lifestyles to their young children. *All five of their children are under the age of 7*. I don't think parents should have to be teaching stuff about sex to their 6-year-olds (no matter WHAT kind of sexual standards the family holds, I just don't think a 6-year-old needs to be learning about sex yet), or should be required to teach things that go against their family's religious beliefs in order to keep their kids.

IMHO the government has no business dicating to anyone what they teach their own children about things like sexuality and religion.


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## angelpie545

I agree 100% with the site's promotion for a constitutional amendment securing a parent's fundamental right to parent their child the way that they see fit, and I think the whole CPS system needs complete overhaul and change in the way social workers are trained. The problem lies in that they are trained to see every parent as a suspect and look for abuse, which ends up that they "find" abuse where there is none. This thinking needs to be reversed. The primary goal of a social worker should be to keep family together, not to split a family apart. I think that the state should be automatically financially liable for damages to any family who had their children unjustly removed, that family court records should be made public and all hearings videotaped and available, hearsay should not be permitted. I think that social workers should have their immunity from lawsuits removed immediately. I'm sure far fewer children would be removed unjustly if social workers knew they would be held publicly and financially liable for any action determined to be unjust by a court of law. Those changes protect families from unjust accusations, but also leave quite enough room to protect children who suffer from abuse.


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## MichelleAnnette

Someone on a list I am on sent that link out a few weeks ago. It's tough because so many parents don't do what parents should do, so it sucks for those kids when others can't intervene. Then again, for people like you and me, it sucks for us that we have to be so careful with "the authorities" and it really sucks for our kids if we have a problem with said authority. Ultimately, I support what is best for my family and so I support amending the constitution to protect parents' rights to educate their children as they see fit.


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## saturnfire16

While I haven't read everything on the site, it looks good to me. The government has way too much control in the family life. We have to get PERMISSION to homeschool, we are harrassed if we don't vaccinate, people have a had CPS called on them for planning homebirths. The list of violations of rights goes on and on. The government owns our kids, and we are only ALLOWED to raise them if we raise them to some degree of what the government considers acceptable. What happens when they decide that any of the things we do as NFL is illegal?

Of course, those of us in the NFL community have to accept the fact that other families are going to raise their children differently from us. And while we may not like it or agree with it, it is their right. They're going to bottlefeed, let their babies cry it out, some will be homophobic and racist, and some will spank. But we need to work on changing hearts and minds, providing opportunities for parents to learn a different way of doing things, and encourage a cultural change. Change must come from within. It cannot be forced by the government and too often when the government starts out trying to make a change for the better, the control increases to the point that things become worse. And that is exactly what has happened.

Of course, the government has its place. You have the right to do whatever you want so long as it doesn't hurt anyone else. So, when a parent truly hurts their child through abuse or neglect, then the CPS has cause to step in. But it should be a last resort. My husband was in foster care. His situation was one in which he truly did need to be removed from his parent's care (or lack thereof). But he can attest to the fact that foster care is not necessarily any better. He was moved from home to home, and had foster parents that hit him, didn't feed him, locked him outside all night, and did nothing to stop him from doing drugs. My point is that with the current policies a child can get taken from their parent because their parent spanked them, only to get moved to a worse situation. And even if the situation is better, getting moved around and forced to live with strange people causes a child to feel insecure, angry, confused... all the same symptoms of living with a not so great parent. (just to clarify, I'm not defending spanking)

The only problem with a constitutional amendment, is that the constitution no longer means anything in this country. We have thousands of laws that violate the constitution and very few politicians or citizens seem to care. So, while a constitutional amendment would be great, we first have to return to following the constitution. Vote for Ron Paul if you want this to happen.


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## mamajake

FWIW, I am opposed both to the organization and the proposed constitutional amendment. The organization seeks to further (as in my view does the HSLDA from which it springs) a fundamentalist Christian agenda. The ParentRights website misrepresents what the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child would do. I strongly believe that children should have full constitutional rights of their own. The amendment (and the agenda) is not merely to protect parental decisions from state intervention - it seeks to give parents absolute rights over the decisions of their children. See the thread concerning the Oregon Supreme Court case on circumcision (parent has right to force 12 year old to be circumcised) to see how such "absolute parental rights" theory works.


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## Climbing Rose

I am totally for the amendment.

I think Parents Rights are on the slippery slope.

I want my children to have the rights to do all the things I can do with them, with their own children. (homeschooling, non-vax, etc.)

Also, my crazy abusive parents tried twice to sue us for grandparents 'rights' to take our young DC against our will, even though DH and I are fit, bio-parents. That alone makes me want to do all I can for this to pass.

I don't care who agrees with HSDLA or not--- this is a 'big picture' issue for me, and sometimes that makes strange bed-fellows.

I personally have talked to a gay elected official who supports parents rights, and he probably isn't in love with HSLDA either, but this is an issue where we can join together for the greater good, IMHO.


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## Climbing Rose

mamajake said:


> I strongly believe that children should have full constitutional rights of their own.
> 
> 
> 
> But the issue with that is, who then decides what is best for the child if the child has "full constitutional rights" and is not old enough to make real decisions (like under age 14 or whatever)?
> Someone _will_ have to decide... will the child be vaxed, what will the child be taught and where, on and on.... and if the parent does not have the 'right' to decide that for their very own child... then someone has to do it, and I do not need to have the gov't making those choices for my DC.
> 
> I'm too pregnant and tired to argue, I'm just saying.
Click to expand...


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## Leatherette

Quote:

A thirteen-year-old boy in Washington State was removed from his parents after he complained to school counselors that his parents took him to church too often. His school counselors had encouraged him to call Child Protective Services with his complaint, which led to his subsequent removal and placement in foster care. It was only after the parents agreed to a judge's requirement of less-frequent church attendance that they were able to recover their son.


Oh, Please. I wouldn't believe anything posted on this website until I read the full court transcript.


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## theretohere

I'd like to see some outside sources, but it's interesting.


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## saturnfire16

Quote:


Originally Posted by *Leatherette* 
Oh, Please. I wouldn't believe anything posted on this website until I read the full court transcript.

I can't vouch for this particular case, but I can say that my best friend in high school was told the same thing by a counselor. She didn't take them up on the offer. Her parent's were foster parents and she had seen how bad the system could be, and that despite not wanting to go to church, she knew that she was lucky to have such good parents and not be part of the system.


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## Thuan Tu

*No women on the board or in the group's leadership*

I know that this post is old however I just recently came across the group's website also. I did some poking around and it's odd to me that there are no women in the group's leadership.

THIS IS A RED FLAG FOR ME!!

I would not support this group.


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## narshivahappy

2 in August said:


> A friend of mine just sent me a link to this website http://www.parentalrights.org/ It looks like something I'd definately support, but I want to make sure it's legit and see what others know about the organization.
> 
> Thanks!


Like others here are saying, that site is no good.


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