Parental Control

 

Conservatives talk a lot about the rights of parents with respect to their children, and they are right to do so. Parents have the right and should have the authority to make many decisions about their children and about how and what their children are taught in schools, since they are responsible for their minor children. What the conservatives seem to miss is that all parents have that right, not just the ones who would make decisions conservatives like. They should realize that if they believe in parental control, then banning drag queen shows is as wrong as mandating training in “gender fluidity.” This is a country of great diversity of opinion among its people, which leads naturally to diversity of styles in and beliefs on raising children. Children have rights. Parental authority is not absolute, and officials should act to stop or prevent abuse or dangerous neglect. But other than preventing abuse and neglect, the correct public policy is to accept diversity in parenting, since the alternative is a uniformity determined by whoever has the political power at any moment to dictate it.

Schools should be left free to offer different alternatives, and parents should be left free to choose among those alternatives. That requires real school choice, meaning the government money goes out per kid to be spent at the school the parents choose. Schools would offer different options, content, and approaches, and parents would choose among them.

If that ever happens, some of the choices will be bad ones. There are parents who believe and teach their children all sorts of false and harmful things. They are likely to select schools which conform to their notions. There are politicians and bureaucrats who believe and would like to have children taught all sorts of false and harmful things. In the present system they are able now to make whole systems conform to their notions. With school choice there should be a general improvement in quality of schools driven by competition, as in other areas. There also would be more opportunities for making good choices, and some people would take advantage of them.