Opinion Talk

By RWH

June 14, 2005 09:00 AM | Link to this

All clubs that is formed on school grounds and facilities become the sole jurisdiction of the county-government. Students who join, participate in these pose libilities for parents and the school. Therefore, the proper forms must be in place; parents must agree/disagree to permit their child the rights to join and they, the parents must assume all responsibilities and not hold the school responsible for activities and other acts the students in these clubs perform or undertake. Parents must be well-informed about these clubs their children get involved in.

By Carlton Wyatt

June 14, 2005 09:55 AM | Link to this

Regardless of all the justifications the right-wing zealots give for this heavy-handed rule, the truth, however, is that it is yet another means for them to beat up on gay people. That is the ENTIRE reason for the rule, no matter what they say. Every one of them that says it isn’t solely about punishing gay students is a bald-faced liar.

By Nicole

June 14, 2005 10:49 AM | Link to this

Should students be required to inform their parents of the school clubs they belong to?

Short answer….NO!

Parents should be informed of what clubs the school offers.

By Taxpayer

June 14, 2005 11:04 AM | Link to this

Worry about disparity in discipline by gender,ethnicity and race. Worry about curriculum and graduation rates. Worry about how best to teach learners of second languages. Worry about our “zero tolerance policy” and how common sense in many cases has been thrown out the window. Worry about the quality of education in our alternative schools. Worry about recruiting college students into the education field. Worry about recruiting the best teachers for our schools. Worry about the important things, not permission slips for high school students for after school activities. This is all about stopping gay/straight alliances in high schools. The school board is not fooling anyone who has observed this policy go through 8 or more revisions.

By Lee

June 14, 2005 11:41 AM | Link to this

So, does this mean a kid needs a parental note just to show up for any after-school meeting? Maybe the kid wants to learn how to play chess and looks in on the chess club to see what it’s about.
Football jock dad disagrees with the use of chess, so he doesn’t sign the permission note.
These types of disagreements happen all the time (although not always chess/football) between children and parents. Children should be able to participate, and share their experiences with their parents without the need for micro-management and extra paperwork.

Those activities that are potentially dangerous, such as sports, should get parental permission; but school clubs where you just talk to peers, and discuss similar topics shouldn’t need permission slips.

If permission slips are needed, then a generic note for any after school activity should be used. This way, if the child doesn’t like one club, they can try other clubs without needing parental permission for every single thing.

And yes, I also see this as a reaction to reduce membership/participation in gay clubs.

By Robert Cagle

June 14, 2005 01:06 PM | Link to this

They can join whatever they want once they turn 18 and go to college, or move out of the house on their own. At that point the parents recourse is to stop supporting their children if they don’t like who they associate with or the activities in which they participate. But, parents should have the final say as long as their children are minors for the simple reason the parents are responsible for a child’s well being and any financial and/or legal repurcussions stemming from the the child’s behavior. Parents also have a right and responsibility to know what activities the schools they support through taxes and donated time are sponsoring. Personally, if I were a teacher in this day and age I would want all the CYA I could get even if it meant keeping up with a few permission slips. Get real people.

By Alex

June 14, 2005 01:22 PM | Link to this

The school board, on both the state and local level, tells its students that taking responsibility for one’s self is a great virtue, yet it stops students from doing that at every turn. This lack of freedom is the reason why our state curriculum and SAT scores suffer so much. Additionally, the state hurts good students by forcing them to sacrifice taking harder classes because so many underperformers require alot of remedial work. Maybe the state should worry about these issues instead of the friendships of gay and straight students. After all, the Board of Education’s primary job is to improve the education children receive, not regulate the people they have contact with.

By Alex

June 14, 2005 01:31 PM | Link to this

Children go to school to learn and grow, not to have every single thing their parents always told them reinforced. One must challenge him or herself academically, socially, and otherwise to grow. Many of these challenges must be faced alone, without a parent (though, the ones that can cause physical harm clearly must be better regulated). Requiring parents to sign student permission forms allows students to do little more than stay in a permanent cycle of stagnation. One cannot grow by only doing what is allowed by his/her parents. Additionally, parents should get to know their kids, as another noted, by talking to them. A real relationship with a child cannot be based on pure ideological authoritarianism.

By Chuck Cohen

June 14, 2005 01:52 PM | Link to this

This proposed rule by the Board of Education requiring parental permission for a student to join school clubs serves no benefit to the school system. Instead, this bureaucratic hurdle serves only to discourage students from participating in extracurricular activities. And considering that students involved in extracurriculars are more likely to stay in school and more likely to have good grades, I would think the Board of Education would do everything in its power to encourage student participation in clubs.

Based on the rhetoric supporters of this rule are using, one would think that school clubs were the source of the corruption of an entire generation of Americans. They contend that without parental help and guidance, high school students are incapable of choosing clubs that will not brainwash them. What supporters refuse to admit is that this rule is not about football or band or chorus or even chess club. It’s about Gay Straight Alliances. It’s about misguided parents who are not willing to trust their children, even in a strictly regulated environment. It’s about people who are not willing to accept those different from themselves.

If parents wish to know what clubs their child is involved in, there is a simple solution: they should ask their child. If the student lies, then there are deeper issues than parental permission can correct. If parents don’t notice that their child is spending an unusual amount of time out of the house, then the relationship between the parent and the child needs more help than the Board of Education can legislate. And if that unaccounted time was spent on school grounds, then the parents should be enthralled, for there are much more dangerous things a teenager can do.

By rob

June 14, 2005 03:07 PM | Link to this

No school clubs for anyone anytime so no one is excluded or thier feelings hurt when they cannot have a club for thier particular clique. Pay for all of your child’s activities on your own and not require the taxpayer to supplement you. Setting up in-school clubs based solely on sexual preferences is an ever expanding liability. Where would it stop? If it stops for anyone would they not also be discriminated against? Loosey Lucy the single mother prostitute wants to start a in-school “2nd oldest profession” prostitutes club (so her daughter can relate to others who want to be or whose parents are) and not be descriminated against(in Las vegas where prostitution is legal). Why not? I do not think thisd is a gay straight thing. I don’t dislike someone of a different sexual orientation than me nor do I think you should get preferrential treatment for the difference. If you want others to judge you by your character and not “life choices”, stop using your sexual preference as a crutch while screaming discrimination every time you don’t get what you want.

By Sandy

June 14, 2005 04:10 PM | Link to this

Dear Mom and Dad,

Please may I have your permission to join the after school Gay Support Group Club at school? I promise I won’t let it interfere with my homework. Perhaps you can give me some of your parental guidance as to whether this is a good idea? Hopefully, this Gay Club will enhance our communication and motivate you to get more involved in my education. You probably thought I was trying to hide something but in truth I was just trying to avoid filling out all the paperwork involved in participating in clubs at school. Do you think I have any health problems that would preclude me from attending the Gay Support Group after school (like AID’s for expample)? I wanted to join the Future Farmers of America Club but they said I just don’t dig it. They tell me in the progressive State of Utah they don’t allow students to be members of afterschool clubs without parental permission but in the Bronx, New York everyone including the teachers belongs to afterschool clubs so they don’t get mugged on the way home.

Oh, and one last thing. No matter how you wrap up this thing with your specious explanations we all know what you’re trying to do i.e., Discriminate against gays and lesbians. Uh oh! You’ve been “Outed”!

By IGHR

June 14, 2005 05:06 PM | Link to this

Even if this new law requiring parental notification is supposedly being used to reduce membership and participation in afterschool clubs that support “alternative lifestyles”, like the gay and lesbian clubs, parents have a right to know what and how their children are doing at school. This new law helps any reasonable parent by giving them more control over their child’s academic performance. If, for example, little Tommy needs Mom and Dad’s permission to be in an afterschool club but is only making C grades or less then Mom and Dad can withhold permission for little Tommy to join said club or clubs until he brings his grades up to a B or higher, thereby helping to motivate little Tommy do better in school or not be allowed to participate in the afterschool club or clubs by Mom and Dad. How could any reasonable parent not be support of this new law because it gives communities the ultimate local control which is that of the parent in their household and their child’s life. Even if a child is involved or in support of the gay and lesbian lifestyle that child has got to keep his or her grades up and answer to their parents like every child (should)whether the issue is academic, extracurricular or social. It is fully understood by most reasonable people that no one wants to be looked down upon for who they are, but it also has to be understood that many parents disapprove of their children participating or being exposed to the gay and lesbian or other “alternative lifestyles” for religious reasons. Both sides of the issue are fully within their God-given rights to let their views be known and speak through their government representatives when laws are being made. Both sides of the argument must be understood and fully respected.

By Jill Stoneberg

June 14, 2005 11:54 PM | Link to this

After school clubs are a way for students to participate voluntarily in something other than sports. Clubs that promote tolerance should be celebrated, as should a generation that embraces them.

I applaud this generation and their attempts to embrace all of their fellow students, regardless of political bent, religion, race or sexual orientation.

If we want our kids to stand for something, to make moral decisions, to withstand peer pressure, they need the freedom to make choices.

Students should be free to attend any after school club on campus without parental interference/permission.

By Dan

June 15, 2005 08:14 AM | Link to this

Until a student is 18, their parents have the right and more importantly the responsibility to know everything their kid is doing. As a matter of fact any parent that disagrees with this should put their kids up for adoption and be sterilized.

By Carlton Wyatt

June 15, 2005 10:19 AM | Link to this

When are the anti-freedom christian zealots going to stop trampling on everyone else’s right to exist, all the time whining like stuck pigs whenever their bigoted and ignorant actions are questioned?

I’m sick of everyone having to bow down to this religious dolts. Sorry, you martyrs-in-waiting, questioning your idiocy is not yet against the law, no matter how much you continue trying to make it so. Gay people and others are not going to sit idly by and let you run roughshod over us. Our rights are JUST AS IMPORTANT as yours.

By Gil Gibson

June 15, 2005 11:35 AM | Link to this

A student can’t get an aspirin from the school nurse without parental permission. But if it has something with unrestrained sexuality, the schools think parents have no right to be involved.

By Lee

June 15, 2005 03:41 PM | Link to this

Dan, Kinda harsh penalties there, donchya think?

I agree that parents should be aware what their children are doing. This should be between the parent and child. It shouldn’t have to be legislated.

I also know that some children are highly responsible when they are 15, 16, or 17 as much as many 18, 19, and 20 year olds. Kids with a clue will “get” that this rule is poorly aimed, and can get around it easily.

Start a club called “Students for the American Way” and every parent will agree that it’s a good club. If the topics of the day just happen to be “cultural diversity” and “freedom in the bedroom”, those don’t have to be mentioned to the parents, or the school.

… until the school board finds out, and outlaws all clubs just because they don’t like a single club.

By Bryan

June 15, 2005 11:33 PM | Link to this

I graduated from a local Atlanta high school a few years ago. I praticipated in sports teams, several clubs, ect. My parents had to sign permisson slips for sports and sports alone.

It’s tough in high school, even more so if you’re gay. And most gay teenagers are not open about it, and therefore cannot talk to others about their experiances. This is where Gay Straight Alliances are very important. They can save lifes.

If a parent is a good parent, they don’t need a permission slip to know where their kid is after school. And a good parent would prefer their child be helped by peers than dead.

By Dorothy Wilson

June 16, 2005 07:31 AM | Link to this

Parent have a right to know what their children are doing! That is the problem with this country. We take away the rights of parent and create jails later on to deal with the results. Absolute madness!

By EX-democrack

June 16, 2005 08:08 AM | Link to this

See what your government schools have become?…ruined by political correctness.

These comments represent solid reasons why you need to get your children OUT of government schools NOW!

“The greatest form of child abuse in America occurs daily when millions of parents send their children to the government to be educated (indoctrinated)” …boortz…

By Bryan

June 16, 2005 09:30 PM | Link to this

“Parent have a right to know what their children are doing!”

Sure, and there is an easy way of doing it. ASK.

By Dan

June 17, 2005 01:42 PM | Link to this

Bryan you can’t base a whole system on the potential for an extreme case.
I suggest that permission slip is far more likely to aid in opening a dialogue between the parent and child than result in a death. That is aside from the fact that such a club has no place in a public HS.

By Brian Curtis

June 18, 2005 11:20 AM | Link to this

Here’s a hint, EX: quoting Boortz diminishes your credibility, rather than enhancing it.

Since it’s pretty clear this is all about homophobia (as always), here’s my answer: NO, they shouldn’t have to be informed. I joined the Gay & Lesbian Alliance in college, even though I was straight. Why? Because I support equal rights, even though my father violently disagrees. What would have been the point of informing him?

Teens have the right to explore their own interests and pursuits—not only “if” they conflict with their parents, but especially when they do. You can’t control their minds forever, no matter how hard you try. Eventually, they’re going to think for themselves.

And there’s nothing that terrifies a fundie conservative more than that.