Sharing – Texas parents must now sign-off on child abuse, dating violence education

ByMikeM Reading Time: 2 minutes

I’m afraid that I have the same concerns about this change in Texas law.

“School districts in Texas are now required to teach students about dating violence, family violence, child abuse and sex trafficking after a new law went into effect in early December.

But advocates are concerned that a last-minute change to the law’s language means the children who need the information the most, will be the least likely to get it.”

So, great there will be a curriculum about dating and family violence, but students will have to specifically get permission from their parents, who may very well be the perpetrators of the family violence, you learn about it. This seems backward, but it all makes sense if you look at it from Gov. Abbott’s point of view:

In a statement to The Texas Tribune, a spokesperson for Abbott said the governor said he cares deeply for the rights of parents, as well as the safety of children.

It seems like he, and his party, are much more concerned with the rights of parents than they are with the safety of children. In this scenario, children only have the right to learn about abuse and violence if their parents allow it. What it fails to take into account is that there are some parents who are not just “interested in how their children are being educated”, but are either actively committing abuse in the household, or are too ignorant to see that abuse and violence happen in their social circles as well.

I’m afraid too many kids will simply fall through the cracks, on purpose, because too many people in Texas feel entitled to decide what their children should be aware of, without understanding any of the risks.

These are the parents angry that schools want to offer mental health education, sex education, and now dating and family violence education, as if by not teaching kids these things, it can’t possibly happen to them.

They are wrong, in some cases, dead wrong.

https://www.texastribune.org/2021/12/15/child-abuse-dating-violence-education-texas/

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