U.S. Catholic school expels student because parents opposed ‘erotic’ sex-ed
NASHVILLE, Tennessee,— A Catholic school in
the Diocese of Nashville has permanently expelled a student because the parents
opposed a mandatory sex-ed course that they deemed to be “erotic” and a “near
occasion of sin.”
On September 28, Father Ryan High School
president Jim McIntyre told parents Jason and Susan Skinner that because of
their opposition to the sex-ed along with their “public airing of your
discontent” they could not continue sending their ninth-grade son to school
unless they “concluded” their “dissatisfaction.”
“Unless you can assure Father Ryan [HS] that
your dissatisfaction with the Human Sexuality curriculum issue is concluded,
you are choosing not to allow [your son] to remain a student at Father Ryan
High School,” the letter, obtained by LifeSiteNews, stated.
But the Skinners replied in a letter the
following day that they would not surrender their rights as primary educator,
that they still opposed the sex-ed, and that they would not voluntarily
withdraw their child from school.
“We remain unsatisfied with the sex education
curriculum and the school's refusal to permit opt-outs of the offensive
material in accordance with canon law. Further, we will not relinquish or
subordinate our inalienable rights to freedom of speech, freedom of thought,
and parental primacy at your discretion,” the parents wrote.
“If you wish to compel our son to leave Father
Ryan High School as a result of these views, then that is your decision alone —
not ours,” they concluded.
“I am just a mother who wanted to protect my
son’s innocence for as long as I can.” – Susan Skinner.
The parents criticized the school in their
letter for stripping away parental rights “once a child is enrolled in the
school.”
“It's disappointing that instead of working
with other parents and us to address our concerns, you have chosen to refuse
dialogue, deny us explanation, and threaten dismissal because we have engaged in
legitimate due process. […] Now, because we have done so, you have decided that
our son is no longer welcome at your school,” the parents stated.
School administration responded October 5,
telling the Skinners that because they “remain unsatisfied” with the sex-ed, as
expressed in their letter, their child was no longer enrolled in the
school.
“Therefore, and per our letter dated September
28, 2016, you have chosen to withdraw your son, [name], from Father Ryan High
School effective the end of the school day of September 30, 2016,” stated the
letter signed by president McIntyre and principal Davis.
The “Human Sexuality” course taught as part of
Father Ryan High School’s Theology course offers graphic images and erotic
sexual details concerning male and female body parts. Not only do students
learn the pleasure points of the male and female reproductive organs, but they
also learn about “aroused” clitoris and average penis lengths during erection.
Students also learn 10 different forms of contraception and are tested on how
they function. A detailed outline of the course’s problematic content can be
found in LifeSiteNews’ previous coverage here.
Last month, Bishop David Choby of the Catholic
Diocese of Nashville paid lip service to parental rights, telling
parents who opposed the sex-ed program that
while he “wholeheartedly support[s]” their right as “primary educator,”
nevertheless, when they send their children to school, they no longer exercise
that right when it comes to school “requirements.” If parents wanted their
children to graduate, he wrote in a letter, they must observe the school’s
“legitimate requirements,” which includes the sex-ed.
But a number of Catholic theologians and canon
lawyers, including Fr. Peter
Stravinskas, Fr. Gerald Murray, Philip
Gray, and Michael
Hichborn have
defended the parents, saying their right to opt their children out of the
sex-ed is categorically backed by the Catholic Church.
The Catholic
Church is clear that
the rights of parents over their children is “irreplaceable and inalienable and
therefore incapable of being entirely delegated to others or usurped by
others.” With respect to sex education, the Church specifically calls it the
“basic right and duty of parents” that “must always be carried out under their
attentive guidance, whether at home or in educational centers chosen and
controlled by them.”
Jason Skinner told LifeSiteNews that he was
“saddened and disappointed, but not surprised” by the school’s decision to
expel his son.
“Given that the school throughout this process
has shown no sympathy or regard for our heartfelt conviction that this material
would be detrimental to our son, I really am not surprised by their action
now,” he said.
“Apparently lack of satisfaction with the
curriculum is now grounds for dismissal. In my view, they have kicked us
out without a valid reason,” he added.
Mr. Skinner said the school’s action tells
faithful Catholic families that “dissent will not be tolerated.”
“From the beginning, close friends with
students already at the school confided to us their concern of retribution,
which we have now seen firsthand,” he said.
The Skinners have not only been chastised by
community members for causing a disturbance but have been ridiculed as being
overprotective and mocked for holding a position at odds with the school and
the diocese.
“I am just a mother who wanted to protect my
son’s innocence for as long as I can,” Susan Skinner told LifeSiteNews.
“As I look at the world today — and as I pray
ardently in adoration — I feel a deep conviction that God is calling us to
purity of mind, heart, and body, and our Catholic institutions should support
this and not show graphic sexual material in the guise of providing
‘information.’ I would just ask that all of us be kept in prayer, my family,
the school, our diocese, and our bishop. We are deeply saddened by this
outcome,” she added.
(Report continues below PDF.)
The parents’ fight for their God-given rights
over their children has garnered interest overseas.
Dr. Thomas Ward, U.K. founder and president of
the National Association of Catholic Families as well as a corresponding member
of the Pontifical Academy for Life, told LifeSiteNews even if the school’s
sex-ed course were in line with Catholic teaching, it’s treatment of parents is
not.
“It’s as plain as the nose on your face that
the school’s treatment of the parents, telling them to ‘shut up’ about the
sex-ed or ‘get out,’ is in total opposition to all previous papal teaching on
parental rights,” he said.
“Put very simply, God gives children to
parents (not to bishops, educationalists, sex experts, etc.) for their
protection and education. Teachers, doctors, and others only give services to
children as the agents of parents, and with their prior and completely informed
consent. If these usurp the right of parents over their children, they put
themselves in direct opposition to God and his plan for the family.”
Ward called the school’s treatment of the
parents an “evil and immoral assault.”
“This must be fought because it is gravely
sinful and an attack on parents’ freedom and rights. If we allow parental
rights to erode away, we will see more and more children becoming victims of
various immoral ideologies and indoctrination programs that are contrary to the
truths of our faith. The devastation will be immense. Parents must stop this,”
he said.
Alice Grayson, Director of Veil of Innocence —
a website exposing the dangers of sex-ed — told LifeSiteNews that parents are
right to be concerned when institutions push sex-ed on kids.
“The Church’s enemies know full well that if
they want to control the future they first have to separate children from
parental influence, desensitize them of their natural modesty, and then insert
their own values,” she said.
The Skinners are not the only family targeted
by Father Ryan administration for opposing the sex-ed. Another family told
LifeSiteNews, under condition of anonymity, that when they sent their child to
school, they were excited to read on the school’s website how parents become
“partners” with the school in the “formation of your child spiritually,
academically and in every other way.”
“We were at first so excited to know that we
would be partnering with an amazing Catholic school to educate our child. But
the moment we raised our concerns along with other parents about the sex-ed,
suddenly the whole idea of ‘partnership’ vanished, and school administration
began picking us off, one by one,” the parents said.
“Other parents have paid the price as well for
opposing this course. And they too magically ‘disappeared’ from the school and
the community. The school finds one reason or another to get rid of you. It’s
really a sad situation,” they added.
Petitions (here and here)
asking the bishop and school administration to reverse their position and
support parental rights have received more than 11,350 signatures as of this
writing.
Action item: View the
petition asking the Catholic Diocese of Nashville to support parental rights here.
Contact:
The parents’ figh
