Reflections on Society: Parental Rights
When Vidangel was first brought up on my podcast we discussed the lost cause known as the #SaveFiltering petition. Within this terrible creed of uselessness there was one line that stood out about if filtering was taken away from the world "its outcome will directly affect your rights as a parent". http://savefiltering.nationbuilder.com/
At this point Caleb asked the questions "Is that a thing now? Are we gonna do a show on that?' of which I replied yes so here we are. I want to say that I viewed parental rights being something vidangel made up to help their cause of stopping their company from being overrun by those Hollywood fat cats.
But apparently, it's not just a vidangel thing. There are a group of people out there advocating for parental rights out there. They don't exactly have enough money or power for their own lobbyist in Washington But they do have their own website! And it is insane! https://parentalrights.org/
The 1st thing on this website is a video talking about how parental rights are taken away. It's a minute and 30 seconds of wasted time with scary music titled "Parental rights: an issue that matters to us all". The random facts the video happens to bring up are towards the bottom of the first page on the website in a little "Did you know...." section. It's full random, obscure parental facts that no one would know because they don't seem important. Facts such as:
- A mother in Minnesota was told that she could not access the medical records of any of her children 11 years old or older, or discuss her child's health with the physician, without obtaining her child's permission.
- In most states, you will be denied access to library information about your children, including the titles of books which are accumulating late fees.
- A mother was refused her 13-year-old daughter's grades when she enrolled her in an algebra class.
At the bottom of these "facts," there's a link to a parental rights quiz. I decided to test my knowledge among this series of true of false questions. There were 10 questions total and I already knew the answers to three of the questions due to the website home page. I got most of these questions wrong, stupid stupid me. The questions had very specific scenarios. Two of them only applied to the state of Minnesota.
The best question was saved for last. The website did not allow you to answer the question. Instead, it just gave you the answer. The question is "True or False: We don't really need a Parental Rights Amendment to the United States Constitution." I would've answered true, but apparently I am wrong on this was. The answer was "False. If you are unhappy with any of the answers on this quiz, then it should be evident that a Parental Rights Amendment is necessary to prevent further erosion of your rights."
I was unhappy with the answers on that quiz, but not because parental rights are disappearing. But because it wasted my time with random obscure "facts" trying to pass itself off as something better than it was. Also, I'd like to point out the whole website does this. It really tries to pass itself off like a dot gov site.
As a single person who no kids (that I know of), I don't feel like parental rights apply to me. Much less actual parents. Yes, I said it. After working in student housing for so long I've noticed a common trend, we have a lot of what I call "low effort parents". Sadly there's no urban dictionary term for this yet, but I should write one up. But here's the basic criteria of what a low effort parent consists of:
- Giving your kid an iPad.
- Having television/Netflix babysit your child.
- Giving your kids insane amounts of sugary foods.
- Letting your kids run amok in public places.
- Complaining that it's always someone else's fault for something rather than yours, or your kid. Examples of this include:
- Anyone employed by a public school.
- Anyone who watches your kids at church
- The babysitter.
- Basically, anyone who watches your kids when you're not around.
- Neglecting your kid because you want to be on Pinterest, too busy assembling your fantasy football bracket, watching tv, or playing video games.
Much like their kids, Low Effort Parents are super entitled. The world owes them something, and it's someone else's responsibility to get it for them. Especially when it comes to raising their kids. They're also very narcissistic, in case that wasn't a given. These are the people I picture wanting these parental rights. The people who weren't paying attention to their kids, until one day something happened and they realized they weren't in complete and total control. All of a sudden the world did not make sense to them, and now they are leading the charge to prove they're in control.
Shifting gears back to the website, it's main claim to fame is a PROPOSED PARENTAL RIGHTS AMENDMENT TO THE UNITED STATES CONSTITUTION. That's right people, we're getting uncle sam involved. The man himself is gonna protect your kids from the nasty people known as "everyone else".
Here's some of its fun insanity for you and the PROPOSED PARENTAL RIGHTS AMENDMENT TO THE UNITED STATES CONSTITUTION
SECTION 1
The liberty of parents to direct the upbringing, education, and care of their children is a fundamental right.
SECTION 2
The parental right to direct education includes the right to choose, as an alternative to public education, private, religious, or home schools, and the right to make reasonable choices within public schools for one's child.
SECTION 3
Neither the United States nor any State shall infringe these rights without demonstrating that its governmental interest as applied to the person is of the highest order and not otherwise served.
SECTION 4
The parental rights guaranteed by this article shall not be denied or abridged on account of disability.
SECTION 5
This article shall not be construed to apply to a parental action or decision that would end life.
SECTION 6
No treaty may be adopted nor shall any source of international law be employed to supersede, modify, interpret, or apply to the rights guaranteed by this article.
- MCS1
