Kaptured Chat

cymbalo(The Jen-uine one)

Thursday, November 3, 2005 � Last updated 5:56 a.m. PT

Court upholds Calif. school's sex survey

By DAVID KRAVETS
ASSOCIATED PRESS WRITER

SAN FRANCISCO -- A federal appeals court Wednesday dismissed a lawsuit by parents who were outraged that a school district had surveyed their elementary school-age children about sex.

The three-judge panel of the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals rejected the parents' claim that they have the exclusive right to tell their children about sex.

In upholding a lower court ruling against the parents, Circuit Judge Stephen Reinhardt said "no such specific right can be found in the deep roots of the nation's history and tradition or implied in the concept of ordered liberty."

The appeals court noted that other courts have upheld mandatory health classes, a school system's condom distribution program and compulsory sex ed.

The parents had sought unspecified damages.

An attorney for the parents, Erik Gunderson, said he was considering an appeal. Dennis Walsh, attorney for the Palmdale school district north of Los Angeles, said the survey was part of a legitimate effort aimed at helping students.

The district dropped the survey in 2002 amid complaints from parents. It was given to children in the first, third and fifth grades as part of a program to gauge early trauma and help youngsters overcome barriers to learning.

Among other things, the students were asked how often they thought about sex.

Parents whose students took the survey signed consent forms. But the forms never mentioned sex would be a topic.

_______________________________________________________________________________________________ So absurd.Questions mentioned touching your or other people's "private parts" Mad

.Just what one would expect from the granola state.Stick with your Cheerios and Rice Krispies!
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And remember...it always happens first on records. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hPBw45ETm7o

Dr. Zaius · Joined: 31 Oct 2005 Posts: 146

Disgusting. This decision is so bad, it is obnoxious. Sex questions to a 7-year-old??

(quote) Circuit Judge Stephen Reinhardt said "�there is no fundamental right of parents to be the exclusive provider of information regarding sexual matters to their children, either independent of their right to direct the upbringing and education of their children or encompassed by it. We also hold that parents have no due process or privacy right to override the determinations of public schools as to the information to which their children will be exposed while enrolled as students. Finally, we hold that the defendants� actions were rationally related to a legitimate state purpose.... �In summary, we hold that there is no free-standing fundamental right of parents �to control the upbringing of their children by introducing them to matters of and relating to sex in accordance with their personal and religious values and beliefs� and that the asserted right is not encompassed by any other fundamental right. In doing so, we do not quarrel with the parents� right to inform and advise their children about the subject of sex as they see fit. We conclude only that the parents are possessed of no constitutional right to prevent the public schools from providing information on that subject to their students in any forum or manner they select."

9th Court is out of whack and needs to be broken up. Why not just hand over our children to the government? They seem to think they know what is best instead of the parents. The Nanny State at its worst.

Easy solution to this: Get your kids out of public school. Now!