Library Holdings, "Divisive Concepts," and Parental Rights
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ERIC Institute of Education Sciences
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| Format: | Recurso educativo Open Access |
| Language: | en |
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2024
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| _version_ | 1867181633849786368 |
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| author | Bryan Warnick |
| author_facet | Bryan Warnick Bryan Warnick |
| collection | Education Resources Information Center |
| contents | Library Holdings, "Divisive Concepts," and Parental Rights Bryan Warnick Library Materials Parent Rights Controversial Issues (Course Content) Elementary Secondary Education Higher Education Educational Legislation Censorship Racial Attitudes Gender Issues Sexuality Gender Identity School Libraries Books Intellectual Freedom Educational Policy Political Issues Over the past several years, there have been numerous legislative attempts to limit discussion of race and gender/sexuality in K-12 schools and higher education in the name of parental rights. As this is written, sixteen states have banned the teaching of "Critical Race Theory" (CRT) and additional legislation is being considered in twenty-two other states. Common legislative language includes prohibitions on teaching students that one racial group "bears responsibility for actions committed in the past by other members of the same race or sex" or that students from certain racial groups should feel "discomfort, guilt, anguish or any other form of psychological distress." Such bans are commonly justified on the grounds of parental rights: as the primary caregivers, parents should control what students are taught about racial issues. Parents, it is said, should be able to "opt their children out" of what they consider to be "racially discriminatory instruction." With respect to gender and sexuality, Florida's "Parental Rights in Education Act" (HB 1557) stipulates that "classroom instruction by school personnel or third parties on sexual orientation or gender identity may not occur" in the early grades. Additionally, groups such as Moms For Liberty are seeking to ban books in school libraries, also under a justification of parental rights. The targeted books tend to deal with LGBTQ or racial issues. As part of both initiatives, there is also a concern to provide parents access to school information. This information relates to curricular transparency and all "mental health" changes relating to students. What should be made of attempts to limit discussion of racial injustice and gender identity in schools, and to limit parent access to curricular information, from a parents' rights perspective? To better understand this question, it needs to be clear about the reasons why parents are (rightly) given a large amount of discretion in making educational decisions. The author argues that parents' rights grow out of the sacrificial labor that parents provide to their children. The right that grows out of this sacrificial labor is best conceived as a "right to invite." The author argues that, while this right is indeed substantial, it comes with certain inherent limitations. The author then examines the scope of the right to invite, together with its limitations, to determine whether parental rights can be extended to the curricular bans mentioned above and to limitations of library holdings. |
| format | Recurso educativo Open Access |
| id | eric_EJ1458673 |
| institution | ERIC Institute of Education Sciences |
| language | en |
| publishDate | 2024 |
| record_format | eric |
| spellingShingle | Library Holdings, "Divisive Concepts," and Parental Rights Bryan Warnick Library Materials Parent Rights Controversial Issues (Course Content) Elementary Secondary Education Higher Education Educational Legislation Censorship Racial Attitudes Gender Issues Sexuality Gender Identity School Libraries Books Intellectual Freedom Educational Policy Political Issues Library Holdings, "Divisive Concepts," and Parental Rights Bryan Warnick Library Materials Parent Rights Controversial Issues (Course Content) Elementary Secondary Education Higher Education Educational Legislation Censorship Racial Attitudes Gender Issues Sexuality Gender Identity School Libraries Books Intellectual Freedom Educational Policy Political Issues Over the past several years, there have been numerous legislative attempts to limit discussion of race and gender/sexuality in K-12 schools and higher education in the name of parental rights. As this is written, sixteen states have banned the teaching of "Critical Race Theory" (CRT) and additional legislation is being considered in twenty-two other states. Common legislative language includes prohibitions on teaching students that one racial group "bears responsibility for actions committed in the past by other members of the same race or sex" or that students from certain racial groups should feel "discomfort, guilt, anguish or any other form of psychological distress." Such bans are commonly justified on the grounds of parental rights: as the primary caregivers, parents should control what students are taught about racial issues. Parents, it is said, should be able to "opt their children out" of what they consider to be "racially discriminatory instruction." With respect to gender and sexuality, Florida's "Parental Rights in Education Act" (HB 1557) stipulates that "classroom instruction by school personnel or third parties on sexual orientation or gender identity may not occur" in the early grades. Additionally, groups such as Moms For Liberty are seeking to ban books in school libraries, also under a justification of parental rights. The targeted books tend to deal with LGBTQ or racial issues. As part of both initiatives, there is also a concern to provide parents access to school information. This information relates to curricular transparency and all "mental health" changes relating to students. What should be made of attempts to limit discussion of racial injustice and gender identity in schools, and to limit parent access to curricular information, from a parents' rights perspective? To better understand this question, it needs to be clear about the reasons why parents are (rightly) given a large amount of discretion in making educational decisions. The author argues that parents' rights grow out of the sacrificial labor that parents provide to their children. The right that grows out of this sacrificial labor is best conceived as a "right to invite." The author argues that, while this right is indeed substantial, it comes with certain inherent limitations. The author then examines the scope of the right to invite, together with its limitations, to determine whether parental rights can be extended to the curricular bans mentioned above and to limitations of library holdings. |
| title | Library Holdings, "Divisive Concepts," and Parental Rights |
| topic | Library Materials Parent Rights Controversial Issues (Course Content) Elementary Secondary Education Higher Education Educational Legislation Censorship Racial Attitudes Gender Issues Sexuality Gender Identity School Libraries Books Intellectual Freedom Educational Policy Political Issues |
| url | https://eric.ed.gov/?id=EJ1458673 |