Other People's Kids

The harmful untruths of the "parent's rights" movement.

“The quote from a horrific leader should put parents on alert. If the government has control over our children today, they control our country’s future. We The People must be vigilant and protect children from an overreaching government.”

-Moms for Liberty of Hamilton County

“You really can’t teach history without teaching the ideology”.

-SC Freedom Caucus Chair Representative Adam Morgan

What does “parent’s rights” mean?

Recently, I wrote about the silliness of “parent’s rights” propaganda. As I close out sixteen years of teaching, there’s a lot more to say about why these arguments hurt so deeply.

First, while individual proponents might have a wide range of preferences, beliefs, and perspectives, here’s a summary of what “parent’s rights,” seems to mean, as a general platform in America, in 2023:

• Schools that receive government oversight and funding are corrupt, while schools that receive government funding without oversight are “the free market” and therefore better.

• Parents who want t…