California schools going downhill

I’m a parent of a child who goes a public school in California and I’m very concerned about the new law that allows alternative sex orientations such us homosexuality to be taught at the public schools. Rescue Your Child organization is fighting this issue. Here (also see below) is a good article that touches the whole educational law issue in California. This article talks about homeschooling which I have nothing against. I just know that personally it wouldn’t work for our family and it wouldn’t be an option for us but I still think that it’s a better option than having the public school system teach your child values that you don’t want them to be exposed to. I want our children to make their own decisions about different sexual orientations and how to handle/deal with them once they are old enough to understand and for sure I don’t want the public school system teaching them these “values” that they think are so important. Where are the rights of people who want to preserve the conservative values and decide what is appropriate to be taught in school and what should be left for the parents to do in their own private homes? 

Judge orders homeschoolers into government educationCourt: Family’s religious beliefs ‘no evidence’ of 1st Amendment violation

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Posted: February 29, 20083:24 pm Eastern

By Bob Unruh© 2008 WorldNetDaily

 

 

A California court has ruled that several children in one homeschool family must be enrolled in a public school or “legally qualified” private school, and must attend, sending ripples of shock into the nation’s homeschooling advocates as the family reviews its options for appeal.

The ruling came in a case brought against Phillip and Mary Long over theeducation being provided to two of their eight children. They are considering an appeal to the state Supreme Court, because they have homeschooled all of their children, the oldest now 29, because of various anti-Christian influences in California’s public schools.

The decision from the 2nd Appellate Court in Los Angeles granted a special petition brought by lawyers appointed to represent the two youngest children after the family’s homeschooling was brought to the attention of child advocates.

“We find no reason to strike down the Legislature’s evaluation of what constitutes an adequate education scheme sufficient to promote the ‘general diffusion of knowledge and intelligence,’” the court said in the case. “We agree … ‘the educational program of the State of California was designed to promote the general welfare of all the people and was not designed to accommodate the personal ideas of any individual in the field of education.’”

The words echo the ideas of officials from Germany, where homeschooling has been outlawed since 1938 under a law adopted when Adolf Hitler decided he wanted the state, and no one else, to control the minds of the nation’s youth.

Wolfgang Drautz, consul general for the Federal Republic of Germany, has said “school teaches not only knowledge but also social conduct, encourages dialogue among people of different beliefs and cultures, and helps studentsto become responsible citizens.”

Specifically, the appeals court said, the trial court had found that “keeping the children at home deprived them of situations where (1) they could interact with people outside the family, (2) there are people who could provide help if something is amiss in the children’s lives, and (3) they could develop emotionally in a broader world than the parents’ ‘cloistered’ setting.”

The appeals ruling said California law requires “persons between the ages of six and 18″ to be in school, “the public full-time day school,” with exemptions being allowed for those in a “private full-time day school” or those “instructed by a tutor who holds a valid state teaching credential for the grade being taught.”

The judges ruled in the case involving the Longs the family failed to demonstrate “that mother has a teaching credential such that the children can be said to be receiving an education from a credentialed tutor,” and that their involvement and supervision by Sunland Christian School’s independent study programs was of no value.

Nor did the family’s religious beliefs matter to the court.

Their “sincerely held religious beliefs” are “not the quality of evidence that permits us to say that application of California’s compulsory public school education law to them violates their First Amendment rights.”

“Such sparse representations are too easily asserted by any parent who wishes to homeschool his or her child,” the court concluded.

The father, Phillip Long, said the family is working on ways to appeal to the state Supreme Court, because he won’t allow the pro-homosexual, pro-bisexual, pro-transgender agenda of California’s public schools, on which WND previously has reported, to indoctrinate his children.

“We just don’t want them teaching our children,” he told WND. “They teach things that are totally contrary to what we believe. They put questions in our children’s minds we don’t feel they’re ready for.

“When they are much more mature, they can deal with these issues, alternative lifestyles, and such, or whether they came from primordial slop. At the present time it’s my job to teach them the correct way of thinking,” he said.

“We’re going to appeal. We have to. I don’t want to put my children in a public school system that teaches ideologies I don’t believe in,” he said.

A spokesman for the Home School Legal Defense Association, one of the world’s premiere homeschooling advocacy organizations, said the group’s experts were analyzing the impact of the decision.

“It’s a very unfortunate decision,” he said.

Randy Thomasson, of Campaign for Children and Families, said under California law parents have the legal right to create a private school in their home and enroll their own children.

“Children belong to the parents, not to the state,” he said. But he acknowledged that there’s a great deal of misinformation about the status of homeschooling in California.

“For years the government school establishment has been lying to parents about the law. Just this week, a Los Angeles Unified school district employee lied to a mother who wanted to homeschool, telling her you must have a license, you must be credentialed and you must follow all the state curriculum. That’s three lies in one sentence.”

“Now we have judges going crazy and actively separating children from their parents.”

A legal outline for parents’ homeschool rights in California, published byFamily Protection Ministries, confirmed Thomasson’s description.

The state’s legal options for home educators include establishing a private school in their home by filing a private school affidavit with state regulators or enrolling in private school satellite instruction programs or independent study programs, it said.

The Long family had been involved in such a program with Sunland Christian School, but the appeals court took the extraordinary step of banning the family from being involved in that organization any longer, since it was “willing to participate in the deprivation of the children’s right to a legal education.”

A number of groups already have assembled in California under the Rescue Your Child slogan to encourage parents to withdraw their children from the state’s public school system.

It’s because the California Legislature and Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger worked together to establish Senate Bill 777 and Assembly Bill 394 as law, plans that institutionalize the promotion of homosexuality, bisexuality, transgenderism and other alternative lifestyle choices.

“First, [California] law allowed public schools to voluntarily promote homosexuality, bisexuality and transsexuality. Then, the law required public schools to accept homosexual, bisexual and transsexual teachers as role models for impressionable children. Now, the law has been changed to effectively require the positive portrayal of homosexuality, bisexuality and transsexuality to 6 million children in California government-controlled schools,” said Thomasson.

Even insiders joined in the call for an abandonment of California’s public districts. Veteran public school teacher Nadine Williams of Torrance said the sexual indoctrination laws have motivated her to keep her grandchildren out of the very public schools she used to support.

The Discover Christian Schools website reports getting thousands of hits daily from parents and others seeking information about alternatives to California’s public schools.

WND reported leaders of the campaign called California Exodus say they hope to encourage parents of 600,000 children to withdraw them from the public districts this year.

The new law itself technically bans in any school texts, events, class or activities any discriminatory bias against those who have chosen alternative sexual lifestyles, said Meredith Turney, legislative liaison for Capitol Resource Institute.

There are no similar protections for students with traditional or conservative lifestyles and beliefs, however. Offenders will face the wrath of the state Department of Education, up to and including lawsuits.

“SB 777 will result in reverse discrimination against students with religious and traditional family values. These students have lost their voice as the direct result of Gov. Schwarzenegger’s unbelievable decision. The terms ‘mom and dad’ or ‘husband and wife’ could promote discrimination against homosexuals if a same-sex couple is not also featured,” she said.

Karen England, chief of CRI, told WND that the law is not a list of banned words, including “mom” and “dad.” But she said the requirement is that the law bans discriminatory bias and the effect will be to ban such terminology.

“Having ‘mom’ and ‘dad’ promotes a discriminatory bias. You have to either get rid of ‘mom’ and ‘dad’ or include everything when talking about [parental issues],” she said. “They [promoters of sexual alternative lifestyles] do consider that discriminatory.”

The California plan still is facing a court challenge on its constitutionality and a possible vote of the people of California if an initiative effort succeeds. 

 

The controversy of the movie Business of Being Born

There is an interesting discussion going on here about this film. The author of the Xblog is questioning the motives of the film maker and the facts being presented in the film. This is what I wrote as a response to the discussion: This is a very interesting discussion. I’m a European living in America and I’ve delivered 2 kids here so I can speak from my point of view having 2 very different hospital births. In Europe it’s very common for women to give birth without pain medication for example. Here in America, the first option given to you is pain medication with very little regard to how it can and does affect the outcome of the birth. It’s been proven that epidurals and c-sections go hand in hand and one doesn’t have to be a doctor to see the correlation there. Women’s bodies are build to give birth to babies not lay in the bed under pain medication not being able to feel your body working during labor. The baby has trouble coming through the birth canal because the hormonal/pain censors in the brain has been blocked by pain medication. All of sudden the baby is in distress and off we go in the surgery room. How many times have you heard a woman giving birth naturally meaning without any pain medication, needing a c-section? I gave birth naturally without any pain medication and the hospital staff on both occasion were horrified and actually amused because they thought they knew I couldn’t do it and also because they didn’t see the point why anyone would want to. After those reactions coming from 2 different hospitals and hospital staffs I got a good idea of the current medical mentality here in American and I’ve since learn how much the insurance companies and hospitals control the birthing process and are in it together. If you get the automatic epidural being offered, your hospital bill goes way up because now you’ve got the anestesiologist to involved and you have to pay that person as well. I wanted to get out of the hospital the next day after having my delivery but my request was denied by the hospital and was bullied in staying by the hospital staff claiming that if I leave, the insurance company might not pay for my delivery. Now please tell me why a hospital would want me to stay for 2 days instead of 1 when me and my baby were perfectly fine. The only answer I can come up with is money. They were going to get more money from me and my insurance company. I can’t believed that I was so stupid and caved into staying. I’ve since learned that this is common practice by the hospitals. If I had known that, I would have walked out with our baby in our hands. After my own experienced with child birth here and American and knowing how different things work in Europe and the country I’m from, I’m so glad to see this film being put out to make people think. I haven’t seen this film myself so I shouldn’t fully comment but I hope to see it soon. One more point, I’d like to make is that from the many years that I’ve lived here and can see how many americans are brainwashed by the drug companies to need a medication for everything. The drug companies have such a powerful hold on the American society due to the money spend on advertising and lobbying on Capitol Hill. In Europe people are encouraged not to use medications unless completely necessary including over the counter medications. A good latest example of the over usage of medications is the cold medications being banned for young kids and babies because parent’s couldn’t be trusted to properly use them and because there wasn’t enough testing done on the side effects of the kids, yet these medications have been on the market for years without any regard to the responsibility of the drug companies and the FDA to make sure these medicines are safe to the age group they are intended to.
 

If you have to deliver a baby at Kaiser, be very careful as to who your doctor might be

This article just highlights the problems of child deliveries here in America. It appears that some doctors just can continue to hurt innocent people and even be responsible for their death, yet nothing happens to them. Dr. Safari, a perinatologist at Kaiser has been under federal investigation for causing 2 babies deaths. Every time you deliver a baby it’s a risk especially if it happens at a hospital. It seems like more things go wrong when doctors get involved. In so many other countries, majority of deliveries are handled by midwifes with great success. I wonder when America will realize that the current child birthing practices are major hospitals just aren’t working and are at great risk of newborn deaths. The US has the highest newborn death rate compared to other developing countries and it’s really sad.Read more here regards to this Kaiser doctor in question and be very aware of the risks when delivering at a hospital.  

Breastfeeding and bottles

I just finished reading an article in the February edition of the BabyTalk magazine about mixing breast and bottle feeding. The article makes it sound like it’s no big deal which is completely bogus and made me so upset. It appears to me that the whole idea of this article is to make it easier for moms not to feel “guilty” about bottle feeding and not wanting to breastfeed exclusively. In my opinion the reasons for why a woman chooses a bottle over breast is because they haven’t received the proper support from the beginning as to how to breastfeed and what should be expected. I’ve delivered 2 babies and I have to say that the hospital staff in both cases (2 different hospitals) varied tremendously on their knowledge about breastfeeding. Unfortunately I don’t have the confidence that the staff in the hospitals around the US really is adequately equipped to support a woman who wants to exclusively breastfeed due to constant push by the formula companies with free formula samples etc.

The article also talks about how nice it is for the dad to be able to give an occasional bottle and how that’s good for bonding. The fact is that a woman was created with the ability to breastfeed not a man and for that reason alone, the mother is the primary care taker for a long time by nature. The father has several years to work on the bonding with the baby and one bottle here or there won’t help that bonding. It just confuses the baby who is looking for the mother and the breast to give him comfort. I’ve also heard that some women like it when the dad can do some of the night time feedings etc. The unfortunate fact is that having children is not easy and it was not meant to be easy so if a woman is not ready to have several sleepless nights, then maybe she is not ready for a baby. The time when a newborn needs a constant closeness and mother to feed every hour or so is so little in the child’s life that it certainly should not be a reason for a mother to choose to give a bottle especially one that has formula in it.
Now there are times when breastfeeding doesn’t start off the right way and a woman is forced to pump and bottle feed while trying to work on improving the breastfeeding situation. This actually happened to me with our second even though I considered myself to be a pro at it after nursing one child for 2 1/2 years. I had to pump and work really hard to get my baby to learn to breastfeed. It was difficult but all worth it. Everything worked out great due to wonderful support and guidance I received from a lactation consultant (Susan at Dr. Sears’ office).

When a mother returns to work, the baby obviously has to receive bottles during the day when the mother is at work but as long as this happens later in the baby’s life, it won’t affect the breastfeeding as much. The fact that women are expected to return to work at 6 weeks post-partum speaks to the problem we have in America and the lack of general awareness and knowledge about breastfeeding. A 6 week-old baby is not ready to be “weaned” from his mother during the day to be bottle fed by someone other than the mother. This is great rule for the formula manufactures because so many women won’t even bother trying to pump at work especially if they are not given a proper place and time to do it during the work day. I’m a working mother so I know first hand what it’s like to work and pump at work and juggle the pumping and breastfeeding. It might sound like a lot but it’s an investment you are making for your child’s future and it’s all worth it. Going back to work is no reason to quit breastfeeding and for sure is no reason to not to breastfeed from birth knowing that the mother will be going to work. Sharing those special moments after work while breastfeeding your baby makes all the difference in the world and helps the mother and baby to bond and take back some lost time. The bottom line is that I wish the society would be more pro-breastfeeding and the health care professionals would be more educated about breastfeeding and how to encourage and help mothers to succeed with breastfeeding. It’s proven to be way superior to formula in all the levels imaginable (nutrition, IQ, mental development etc) yet the formula companies have such a hold on the general public that more women choose the formula over convenient and free breastmilk just because they don’t know any better or are brainwashed to think there is no harm of giving bottles of formula to babies. Articles like this mentioned earlier also speaks to how the American public is conditioned to think this way. Since I’m from Finland I can say that the mentality there is very different and working mothers are being supported very differently than here in the US to assure that the mother and baby get off in a good start and can share what nature intended for mothers and babies.

Dr. Robert Sears and the Vaccine Book

Dr. Robert Sears has finally published his book about vaccines. The book is very much needed by parents who wish to take part in deciding what is the best health care for their children. This book doesn’t take sides, it just represents the facts about vaccines. Dr. Robert Sears is part of Sears Family Pediatrics in San Clemente which is also where our children go to. The father of Dr. Robert Sears is Dr. Williams Sears who has written several books regarding babies, parenting and family nutrition. Both practice together at Sears Family Pediatrics along with Dr. Williams Sears’ other sons, Dr. James and Dr. Peter. The Vaccine book was being feature in the OC Register today (01/24/08) and I’m very glad to see that because it’s about time that the public is being more aware of the complicated issue of vaccines and the possible side effects and complications. For more information check out Dr. Robert’s Vaccine information site here.

My Review of Jumbo Pack – Sizes 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6

Toxic toys

In the awake of the recalls happening with toys made in China, I’m glad to have replaced a lot of our children’s toys with non-toxic wooden toys. It can sometimes be a challenge to find good quality wooden and non-toxic toys that hold the child’s attention like the plastic junk counter parts. I’ve found some websites that really help with shopping for a good quality heirloom toys that hold the child’s attention and grow with the child.  Websites like oompa, moolka and Nova sell brands from all around the world and the toys are really neat. Also FAO has a good search tool to search for toys based on their country of origin. I’ve studied about the different standards in toy manufacturing and have found that the European Union is a lot more strict with their standards than the US standards are. Since I’m originally from Europe I tend to search there for answers. Toy brands that I can highly recommend are HABA, Bajo, Kettler, Brio, Kathe Kruse and my new favorite Plan Toys.

Newborns and jaundice

This is a topic that comes up frequently with newborns. Almost every newborn has a case of jaundice and the decree can very a lot from baby to baby. Our firstborn had a mild jaundice but out second baby have a severe jaundice due to she would not breastfeed enough to help with the elimination process of the extra red blood cells. We had to do the billirubin blankets which worked out great actually. They are a great treatment option for high bilirubin levels to assure the baby can come home from the hospital and the treatment can continue. The unfortunate fact about jaundice is that some pediatricians aren’t aware of the fact that unrestricted breastfeedings really help with the condition. Some doctors are quick to tell the mom to stop breastfeeding and switch to formula which is completely wrong advise. The reason for the formula push is many times the fact that the most “education” new pediatricians get regards to newborn feedings is from the formula manufactures and they are brain washed to think that formula is better for a baby than the mother’s breastmilk.  Besides restricted feedings, indirect sunlight is a great treatment. Put the baby by a window to get some sunlight but be sure to keep an eye on the time. I also put our babies to direct sunlight just with their diaper on for 5 minutes both sides (front and back), no longer than that due to sunburn risk which is way worse than the jaundice. Now they have actually studied jaundice and come to find out that it can be a powerful antioxidant and prevent childhood cancers like leukemia. So it’s not as bad as originally thought. If your newborn gets jaundice be sure to continue breastfeeding as often as possible and if the baby is sleepy, which is typical with jaundice, be sure to wake the baby up to feed every 1 1/2 to 2 hours. 

Newborns and parents lack of sleep

As a new parent, I had no idea what to expect about babies prior to our son being born other than what I had seen on TV or read in the books. I thought that babies sleep in their cribs and wake up to eat every once in a while but that’s about it. My husband and I went out and bought a crib before our son was born for him to sleep in. We put it in our bedroom instead of the nursery because I didn’t want to be so far from the baby. My idea of baby sleeping in a crib came to a halt very soon when 2 weeks into parenthood, I hadn’t slept more than an hour or 2 consecutively and I was completely out of it. I needed sleep badly. I took a friend’s suggestion and brought our son in the bed with us. For the first time, I could sleep! Our son was so peaceful there sleeping next to us. He would wake up to nurse but then go right back to sleep. I was still up many times a night because our son loved nursing but it didn’t affect me us much anymore because I still got more sleep and I didn’t even have to get out of bed to feed him. Gradually our son started to sleep longer but he really didn’t sleep through the night until he was about 3 years old and I was ok with that. I soon realized how important the night time was for our bonding and how I could share those special moments with him nursing in the quiet darkness. Now he is 6 years old and nothing wakes him up. It’s funny to think back of all the sleepless nights and how fast it went by. During that time it didn’t feel like fast but now looking back it does. 

My advise to all new parents out there is to be prepared to be up several times a night with your baby. Babies have tiny stomachs so they do get up frequently to eat. Also breastmilk goes through the body quickly because it’s the best natural source of food therefore many breastfed baby’s nurse frequently. Another advantage of baby waking up several times a night is the prevention of SIDS. You don’t want  a newborn who barely can manage their breathing patterns to be sleeping soundly through the night. Co-sleeping can help to prevent SIDS as well because it’s been studied that the parents’ breathing helps to regulate the baby’s immature breathing patterns while sleeping. Next time a good friend of yours asks if your 3 month old is sleeping through the night, just smile and think how much more you get to bond and share with your baby when you get the privilege of being a parent both day and night. Once you become a parent, you are a parent 24/7 so getting a full night of sleep, should be last on your list. You’ll have plenty of time to sleep when your child is older and regardless of what grandma or any other good meaning relative says, babies don’t sleep through the night and yours is no different and it’s not your fault. Now there are the magical 1% of babies that might sleep almost through the night naturally but that’s such a rare occasion that don’t count on your baby being one of them. I did soon find out that some babies truly are “easier” with night time sleeping patterns because our breastfed daughter at 18 mos does sleep through the night sometimes on her own even when she is sleeping next to me. 

Be aware of the book named “Babywise”

PLEASE STEER CLEAR OF THIS BOOK!

This book has been associated with failure to thrive in infants. Orange County Child Abuse Prevention Center is concerned that this book might lead to child abuse. There shouldn’t be a book published these days that promotes feeding on schedule since this method has been proven wrong by all studies years ago. The AAP says babies need to be fed on demand NOT ON SCHEDULE. This book has finally being taken off the market. The publisher stopped publishing the book after getting letters from doctors and even the AAP has announced that they are strongly against this book. If you are trying to get more sleep as I’m sure allot of parents are, there are other ways to do it than sleep training (cry-it-out method). All babies will eventually sleep through the night (5 hours is considered through the night for a baby not 8-10). If you are trying to change your child’s sleeping habits and need help please read the following books Dr. Sears Nightime Parenting and The No-Cry Sleep Solution: Gentle Ways to Help Your Baby Sleep Through the Night by Elizabeth Pantley, William Sears (Foreword) or check out http://www.askdrsears.com. Both books are against the cry-it-out method and talk about finding alternative sleep associations for your child to help them fall asleep and stay asleep better.

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