This post will look at how the early childhood community truly views parental rights. It will focus in on how "best practices" tries to trump parental rights through the propaganda technic called the bandwagon effect.
A Former Homeschooler's View of Parental Rights
Nothing is more sacred to a homeschooler than parental rights. In our view, the parent has the right to decide every aspect of a minor child's life. The only time a parent's rights can be nullified is when a child's life is in imminent danger not perceived danger but actual danger. Most of the time homeschooling parents fight current trends in parenting because they have a philosophical dispute with current culture and norms. Therefore, a lot of them know what it means firsthand to be on the receiving end of well-meaning social meddlers. Of course, they also have encountered their share of not-so-well-meaning social meddlers. What do I mean by social meddlers? Those are the people armed with the current "best practices" of parenting (the same parenting ideas that those homeschooling parents have purposefully discarded) that try to persuade and sometimes outright force these homeschool parents to conform. We live the double standard. Parental rights are fine as long as you conform. When you cease to conform, there is a problem.
The Early Childhood Community's View of Parental Rights
Having entered the early childhood community from the homeschooling community, I viewed the classes I took on parental involvement from the perspective of a conservative parent. I went home from those classes in tears begging God to explain to me why He had led me to such a liberal field. Most of these classes involved teaching us how to make parents view parenthood from a liberal point of view. Most of the instructors made it abundantly clear that some of the views I held should be considered child abuse. Like all things liberal, everything is fine as long as you agree with the liberals. If you dare to hold a different opinion, they will throw "best practices" in your face in the best case scenario or try to have you arrested for child abuse in the worst case scenario. Agreeing to disagree has long ceased to be an option. Now I know conservative parents also tend to be stay-at-home parents for just these reasons (these were exactly my reasons) but sometimes life does not allow you to stay at home. What are conservative parents supposed to do? Most poor conservative parents either stick their head in the sand and pretend that nothing is wrong or compartmentalize their beliefs and accept the liberal parenting agenda. Those that cannot, stay at home even if it means greatly diminishing their family's financial well-being. The lucky ones have family to watch their children. Either way, the early childhood field has made it abundantly clear that conservative views will not really be tolerated.
Best Practices and the Bandwagon Effect
First of all, let me define the bandwagon effect. The bandwagon effect is a propaganda technic where a statement is made over and over and over without real verification until it is commonly accepted as truth. It also helps this technic to throw in terminology that gives it the appearance of credibility. Using the term "best practices" is probably the most overused example of the bandwagon propaganda technic in the social science world. In case no one has told you, all social sciences are relative to the underlying culture and worldview. A social science theory cannot be divorced from its underlying philosophical foundation because that foundation determines priorities and outcomes. Therefore, when early childhood theorists state that a certain practice is "best practice," it is necessary to make them state for which philosophical worldview that applies. It is impossible to have "best practice" across worldviews. This propaganda technic remains the favorite weapon of the progressive liberal movement to force their worldview on all other worldviews. This is especially true when it comes to parenting techniques. If you dare to disagree with the "established" view of the progressive left, they will throw "best practices" in your face every single time. If that does not work, they will move on to labeling you a child abuser. Dissent is not allowed.
Child Rights vs Parental Rights: The UN Convention on the Rights of the Child
As a homeschooling mom of the 1990s and 2000s I was part of the fight against ratifying the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child. This UN resolution would have completely stripped American parents of their rights over their children. We fought this thing tooth and nail. It lay dormant for many years but has reared its ugly head in the last year or so. I recently read an article criticizing the United States for being the only civilized country in the world not to have ratified this particular treaty. To this I say "Thank the Lord." Number one, most countries that have signed this treaty only did it symbolically. It has no teeth where they live and they do not mean to actually enforce it. Number two, because of the structure of our legal system, this would be considered a treaty and would become the law of the land overriding our existing law. Most countries do not have this type of structure for treaties. Number three, does anyone remember the case of the baby that needed a certain type of treatment and the parents had to get permission from the English government? Part of this dilemma had to do with the fact that England has signed the UN Conventions on the Rights of the Child. The state had more say over their child than the parents did. That was completely ludicrous. All the early childhood organizations for which I have knowledge push the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child. That tells me everything I need to know about how the early childhood field truly feels about parental rights.
Conclusion
Even though many early childhood professionals will tell you that they believe in parental rights, I hope this article has shown that only applies if the parents are liberal. Conservative parents are not afforded the same courtesy.
I hope you have enjoyed this post. Goodbye and God bless!!
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