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August 14,
2008 Volume
4, Number 33 | ||
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In This
Issue
E-Mail
cynthia.davis@house.mo.gov
Chair Vice Chair
Vice Chair
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Parental
Rights
I have been doing some math lately and calculated
that I have parented my children through: Twenty-nine years of public
school, Thirty-six years of home school,
and Three years of private
school. Through this time, I have learned that the best
decision for each child needs to be made each year depending on the
child’s personality, family finances, logistics, state mandates, time
commitments and more. Our founding fathers had many debates about what
should and should not be in the Constitution. The Bill of Rights
articulates many items that now seem so obvious as to be unnecessary to
put it into writing at the time, yet their foresight has acted as a
guiding light and spared us many bad laws. Last session I introduced a bill that would have
put into state law the right of parents and guardians to direct the care,
healthcare, teaching and education of their children. My bill was
called the “Parents’ Bill of Rights.” It was a brief statement
that these are natural and fundamental rights of parents and legal
guardians. My bill passed onto another bill as an amendment, but the bill
on which it was attached did not survive the last day of session.
The debate was vigorous, yet ultimately the legislators had to decide
whether they thought parents could be trusted to raise their children or
not. You might wonder why we would need to insert
something as obvious as parental rights into state law. The State of
Parents have rights. Unless we have a bill
that articulates what those rights are, there is no limit to the clashes
that may be created that will disrespect and defy the rights of
the family. Anytime we can reinforce personal responsibility
and parental involvement, we are strengthening our families and reducing
dependency on our government. We may also be eliminating some
confusion that judges experience when attempting to interpret our laws and
our state constitution. Parenting is not easy. When you have small
children, they spit up on you and mess their diapers. When they get
older, they may sass you, embarrass you, and engage in debates when you
just want simple obedience. On top of all that, the culture used to
support the family unit to a greater extent that it does now. The
tax burden on each family, adjusted for inflation, is considerably higher
than it was many years ago. Today many feel like both parents must join the
outside workforce just to earn enough money to pay taxes to support the
governmental institutions that are doing our parenting jobs for us.
Ask your school teachers how they feel about the additional tasks they
must perform to make up for the voids at home. Many schools feel
like they must offer extra help with homework, provide emotional
counseling and offer breakfast. In the past, these tasks have been
up to the parents. However, no institution can be a substitute for
parents. The best part about living in this country is the
freedom we enjoy to live our lives according to our own consciences.
The fruit of liberty allows us as parents to make our own decisions about
how to raise our children. I am committed to continuing the effort
to assure that parents maintain their rights in the State of
Your
thoughts are important to me, so please let me know what you think about
parental rights. You can send me your opinion by clicking
here:
Cynthia Davis.
One
day a little girl was sitting and watching her mother do the dishes at the
kitchen sink. She suddenly noticed that her mother had several strands of
white hair sticking out in contrast on her brunette head. She looked at
her mother and inquisitively asked, "Why are some of your hairs white,
Mom?" Her
mother replied, "Well, every time that you do something wrong and make me
cry or unhappy, one of my hairs turns white." The
little girl thought about this revelation for a while and then said,
"Momma, how come ALL of grandma's hairs are
white?"
This Capitol Report is a weekly
newsletter by Representative J If you know of anyone else who
would like to receive my Capitol Report, please send an e-mail to Cynthia.Davis@house.mo.gov with the
person’s name and e-mail address. We’ll add them to the
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