Protecting parents’ rights – so that parents can protect their children

PROTECTING PARENTS’ RIGHTS

– so that parents can protect their children

From September 2020, all schools in England, including Catholic schools, must by law teach three new subjects:

• Relationships Education in primary schools,

• Relationships and Sex Education (RSE) in secondary schools, and

• Health Education in all schools.

Parents will not have the right to withdraw children from RSE or Health Education. They will still be able to withdraw them from sex education while they attend primary school but parents of children in secondary school will have to seek the permission of the headteacher.

The introduction of these changes represents a serious attempt on the part of the state to control what children will learn about marriage, family and personal relationships. They will restrict the right of parents to raise their children in accordance with their own moral values. A child’s education in these matters should take place chiefly within the home rather than the classroom since it is parents and not the government who should decide what beliefs and values should be imparted to children. At the heart of these reforms is the state’s determination to ensure that same-sex “marriage” and homosexual activity is seen by children as healthy, normal and no different to real marriage.

Unless parents resist these proposals before they are introduced then the situation will become progressively worse in the years to come.

In December 2017 the Department of Education opened a consultation which received more than 23,000 submissions. The response showed a groundswell of public support for real marriage between a man and a woman and significant opposition to the LGBT agenda and sex-education lobby. This forced officials to acknowledge the importance of the role of parents but major concerns over the implementation of the government’s plans still remain. These include:

• Children in primary schools will be told that they must accept that families “sometimes look different from their family, but that they should respect those differences and know that other children’s families are characterised by love and care for them”. They must also understand that marriage, including same-sex

“marriage” and civil partnerships, represent “a formal and legally recognised commitment of two people to each other which is intended to be lifelong”. • In secondary schools, the RSE programme sets out a completely secular view of human sexuality. It presents high-risk unethical behaviour and lifestyles as equally valid as marriage. Abortion is portrayed simply as one of the available options during pregnancy. Pupils will be signposted to contraceptive and abortion services, without their parents even being informed. The right of parents to withdraw their children from the “sex education” parts of RSE, which the government had promised to retain, has been removed and replaced only by a right to request a withdrawal.

The final decision will be taken by the headteacher. At the age of 15 pupils will be able to overrule the wishes of their parents.

• Health education when taught in conjunction with RSE, shows that the government believes it has a role in every aspect of a child’s personal development even if that

risks undermining the decisions, values and beliefs of their parents.

• Child sexual exploitation should be dealt with in the most rigorous way possible. However, the alleged need for all primary school children to learn urgently about

“consent” as a preventative measure against child abuse has been one of the chief justifications for compulsory Relationships Education. The overwhelming majority of children are not being abused.

Telling every child that he or she could be the victim of abuse could lead them to mistrust their parents – the people most concerned with protecting them from exploitation.

School presentations on this matter frequently leave children to decide for themselves whether they are being abused or encourage them to by-pass their parents to seek help from organisations such as Childline, which encourages contraception and presents abortion as a legitimate choice. • Parents also need to be at the heart of strategies to protect children from online threats. They are best placed to regulate their children’s use of the internet. Talking to children in school about internet pornography could incite children to experiment by accessing sites they wouldn’t otherwise visit.

• Exaggerated claims about the extent of so-called “homophobic” bullying have long been used as an excuse to promote LGBT ideology to children and invite homosexual activists into schools. This emphasis on homophobic bullying means that bullying for other reasons, by far the majority, risks being overlooked or sidelined.

WHAT CAN PARENTS DO TO OPPOSE THESE PLANS? If you are a parent you should engage with your child’s school now before the new subjects are introduced. Talk with your child’s teachers, their headteacher and members of the governing body about how they plan to teach these subjects: • Ask them what the lessons will contain and what resources will be used.

• Find out which organisations will be advising the school and make clear your objections to anything inappropriate. Schools should give full disclosure to parents on these issues.

• Ask your child’s school for a consultation with parents on the content and delivery of these new subjects.

Every parent should be given a chance to contribute. This could be schoolwide at primary level and year-wide at secondary level.

• Exercise your right to withdraw your child from Sex and Relationships Education while this is still possible.

It is also critically important that MPs hear the concerns of parents in their constituencies. Further information on the government's proposals and tips for writing letters to MPs can be found at: www.safeatschool.org.uk

Make your voice heard:

ACT NOW!

SEND A POSTCARD TO THE SECRETARY OF STATE FOR EDUCATION

PROTECT PARENTS’ RIGHTS: GIVE PARENTS THE RIGHT TO WITHDRAW THEIR CHILDREN FROM RELATIONSHIPS EDUCATION. Now is the time to send a strong message to the Secretary of State for Education calling for parental rights to be protected so that parents can protect their children. Parents, grandparents and all concerned citizens should send a postcard now. POSTCARDS MAKE A BIG IMPACT. PLEASE ORDER POSTCARDS AT: www.spuc.org.uk/ProtectParentsPostcard OR CALL: 02078203141