In Loco Parentis or Just Plain Loco

There’s a story out of Provincetown , Massachusetts; a public school plans to hand out condoms to elementary school children regardless of parent's desires. My guess is the school board believes it has authority under the authority of “in loco parentis”. Don’t ask me why the phrase is prefaced with “in”; that’s just the way it is, as three little mice would sing during the movie, Babe.


There are plenty of references on the internet to the term and its historical links all the way back across the pond; but I’ll use the Free Dictionary’s definition for the sake of brevity.


“In loco parentis is a legal doctrine describing a relationship similar to that of a parent to a child. It refers to an individual who assumes parental status and responsibilities for another individual, usually a young person, without formally adopting that person…”


{…}


“By far the most common usage of in loco parentis relates to teachers and students. For hundreds of years, the English common-law concept shaped the rights and responsibilities of public school teachers: until the late nineteenth century, their legal authority over students was as broad as that of parents. Changes in U.S. education, concurrent with a broader reading by courts of the rights of students, began bringing the concept into disrepute by the 1960s. Cultural changes, however, brought a resurgence of the doctrine in the twenty-first century.”

I have to wonder about the sanity or mindset of anyone who’d seriously consider handing out condoms to any student in the public school system regardless of age without having some kind of meet and confer with that student’s parents or legal guardians. The article clearly noted that parents have no say in the matter. It would appear that certain public school’s administrators believe they have a greater right to the moral upbringing of children temporarily placed in their care than the parents for whom they are granted such stewardship.


“Dr. Beth Singer, the school superintendent, said since there is no age limit on the distribution policy, said she wanted to ensure that younger students requesting condoms receive information on their use.”


I have to wonder what kind of family environment Dr. Singer was brought up in if she honestly believes there’s nothing wrong with handing condoms to children between the ages of 5 to 12. I’ll bet she has an autographed copy of It Takes a Village somewhere in her office; pages dog eared, passages underlined and notations made in the margins.


“Singer said that although sex education is taught in health classes, there isn’t any detailed instruction on condom usage.”


That last line takes me to yet another decidedly bizarre story involving public schools taking liberties with their supposed “in loco parentis” stewardship. Todd Starnes article, Graphic Sex Ed Class Under Fire , explained how a Planned Parenthood presentation went beyond education as it may have even offered raw pornography to students.


“Parents are outraged after young teenagers were instructed on graphic sexual acts during a Planned Parenthood sex education class at the local high school in Shenandoah, Iowa.”


The law provides mandatory sex education; however, the law also stipulates that parents are to be notified in advance of the presentation. Parents of high school students in Shenandoah, Iowa, were not notified and many have voiced outrage.


“Colleen Dostal told Fox News Radio, “…she was most upset over the instructor simulating sexual acts using stuffed animals designed to resemble STD’s.”’


What is going on in our public schools? Is it any wonder our children are confused about right and wrong since the moral side of sex is bared from the classroom under separation of church and state? Some students, for lack of proper home environment or parental oversight may not know that that putting on a condom is not the same as abstinence or avoiding sexual relations completely? Public schools are teaching sex education classes as if morality and sexual activity had no connection.


Hardly a week goes by without reading about some teacher being indicted for having sexual relations with a student or why Planned Parenthood gave instructions to lie in order to obtain an abortion to someone posing as a 15 year old pregnant girl. Sexual relations are reserved between a husband and wife; at least that’s what was taught in my home along with a healthy majority of Americans ever since our nation was founded. Have times changed that much; the godless left would have us believe so.


Public schools teach reading, writing, arithmetic, science and even sex education; can’t have prayer, that’s against the law. The idea that parents and children must forego family values in the classroom is absurd. If these stories are any indication of how administrators in our public schools or Planned Parenthood represent, or in this case, ignore family values under authority provided by “in loco parentis”, then we need to change the definition to just plain “loco” because parents have lost their say in the matter.


This article has been cross posted to The Moral Liberal , a publication whose banner reads, “Defending The Judeo-Christian Ethic, Limited Government, & The American Constitution”.