Father State Knows Best

From the pages of Times Against Humanity . . .

Writing in today's Boston Globe, Maria Cramer adds to the growing list of reasons to homeschool:

A Saugus man livid about an AIDS booklet his daughter brought home from school wants the state to establish one standard textbook for health education. A Lexington father, upset about a different book that exposed his kindergartner to gay parents, believes that schools should notify parents before discussing same-sex marriage and other adult themes in class.

"Adult themes" as in "adult movies"? Consider this example from the "AIDS EducaTion Series," a student booklet about a boy who contracts HIV, given to the 7-year-old daughter of Paul Stamatopolous, a 39-year-old Saugus truck driver.

A fact sheet about AIDS in the back says HIV is spread by the exchange of infected body fluids like semen and vaginal secretions.

Parents should handle discussions about the sexual transmission of AIDS, he said. "If my daughter had come to me with that question, I would have talked to her," said Stamatopoulos. "She never did. She plays with dolls. Do they have any innocence anymore? Is it all gone?"

Even Superintendent Keith Manville, who promised to bring the issue up at the next meeting of the School Committee, conceded that some of the booklet's language was "kind of strong" for second-graders. Dissatisfied with the school district's initial response, Stamatopolous had taken his complaints to a local television station. You can see who has the childrens' best interest at heart—and not just his daughter's.

Hopefully, the School Committe members will have the good sense and common decency of Mary Kelly.

Kelly, a Milton School Committee member who has three school-age children, said she would want to be notified about discussions on sensitive topics, such as same-sex marriage.

"Quite honestly, I think parents should be advocates for whatever they believe their children should be taught or not be taught," she said.

We do, too, Mrs. Kelly. That is why all four of our children will be homeschooled.

Paul Stamatopolpous' daughter was in the second-grade when her innocence was violated by public school authorities, but David Parker's son was only in kindergarten.

Parker, the Lexington father who was arrested April 27 while protesting the book his child received, contended that the school never gave proper warning about the contents of a book bag promoting diversity. The book bag included a copy of "Who's in a Family?" which shows same-sex partners raising children.

After seeing the book, Parker and school officials had several months of discussions. He was arrested when he refused to leave the school, saying he was protesting because school officials rejected his request to notify him about discussions on adult topics in his child's kindergarten classroom.

After all, you're only the father. And we are the state.

Read and Act!

• See also Maria Cramer and Ralph Ranalli, "Arrested father had point to make," Boston Globe, April 29, 2005.
• Vide.
• Join David Parker and others in protesting the use of the amoral "Who's in a Family?" in the Joseph Estabrook School in Lexington, MA.