In the book Proverbs chapter 22 verse 6 it says “Train up a child in the way he/she should go; and when he is old, he will not depart from it.”
This admonition towards parents to train their children is a tall order. This is especially true in today’s society, where it seems all around them are forces trying to turn them away from the truth and beliefs of their families.
Since kids spend so much time in school, what they are learning while getting an education should be vitally important to parents. After all, it can have a large impact on the “training” kids are getting and the truths they embrace.
Thankfully, parents, grandparents and even the general public still have a voice when it comes to what kids are being taught in public school. Well, that is, at least in Florida.
Florida’s New Law
Governor Rick Scott of Florida signed a new law in the books last month. This law requires school boards to list their materials on school websites. This is important because parents, grandparents and the general public now know exactly what children in that school will be taught. They can look through the curriculum and if they have objections to the material, they can lodge a complaint.
Another element of the law requires schools to launch an independent review made up for qualified officers if such a complaint is issued. This creates a check and balance of sorts when it comes to what children are being taught in school.
On average, a kid will spend 14,040 hours at school over the course of 13 school years, according to a Parent Institute scientific study. This translates to 13.6% of a child’s waking hours being spent at school. This, of course, doesn’t take into account after high school education. This reveals the importance of what kids are being taught while away from home.
Admittedly, kids are still at home more hours than they are at school, and parents are still the primary influencers when it comes to the beliefs and truths a kid embraces. However, with that many hours of their lives being devoted to education, it’s important for parents to be sure their kids are not being taught things that contradict what they are learning at home.
How The Law Came About
The law is a direct result of the efforts of the group Florida Citizens’ Alliance. Founder Keith Flaugh recently told the National Public Radio why he and his group pushed so hard for the new law, stating it was a way of “getting the school boards to recognize the garbage that’s in our textbooks.”
“We found them (textbooks) to be full of political indoctrination, religious indoctrination, revisionist history and distorting our founding values and principles, even a significant quantity of pornography,”he added.
Tony Ledbetter, who is the chairman of the Volusia County Republican Executive Committee said the following about the law:
“I support it 100%. There’s no reason why the citizens of Volusia County should not have more say in what goes on in Public Schools. They should have the right to express their opinions on what’s taught.”
Ledbetter was among the many parents who protested how Islam was being taught in the county’s schools in 2013.
Potential Problems
While the new law in Florida is designed to help parents and the general public to be more informed about what’s being taught in the classroom, there are some people who are worried it could cause problems. One such person is science teacher Brandon Haught, who teaches at the University High School. He said the following about how the law might negatively impact schools:
“Our concern is that school boards across the state will be forced to give a lot of time and effort perhaps even some finances to field complaints from citizens that don’t know a lot about science themselves.”
Of course, as with anything new, the implementation of this new Florida law will likely take some trial and error to tune into the right amount of parental and public involvement. The science teacher has a point when he stated that in many cases, the general public won’t know as much about the subject as a teacher.
However, it’s still a parent’s right to at least look over what their children will be learning and make an educated decision on how to respond. In so doing, parents become actively engaged in “training” their children once again.
~ 1776 Christian
