California Atty. Gen. Rob Bonta filed a lawsuit Monday against the Chino school district, ordering an end to a policy that requires notifying parents if their children change their gender identity, alleging it is discriminatory and violates civil rights and privacy laws.

The “parental notification” policy, which has been proposed by a handful of conservative-leaning districts in California, puts transgender and gender-nonconforming students in “danger of imminent, irreparable harm” by potentially forcibly “outing” them at home before they’re ready, according to the lawsuit.

  • ArbitraryValue@sh.itjust.works
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    2 years ago

    In principle, where should the line be drawn between local and state control in matters like this? On the one hand, I think notification policies are mean-spirited and likely to do real harm. On the other hand, they have the support of the majority in these school districts. If we say that the state ought to override local policy in cases like this, what will we say in cases where a conservative state government is seeking to impose its will on progressive communities (sanctuary cities in states that are cracking down on illegal immigrants, municipalities refusing to enforce drug laws, etc.)?

    (The answer is probably “neither side has a principled stance regarding the balance of power between state and local governments so we might as well do everything we can to support specific policies we agree with rather than abstract principles” but IMO it would be nice if there were commonly-accepted principles about this sort of thing.)

    • SheeEttin@lemmy.world
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      2 years ago

      The US is structured so that most of the legislation is (or was, anyway) done at the state level, as part of the whole “laboratory of democracy” thing, per the tenth amendment. The federal level is supposed to be pretty weak, mostly just coordinating between states and on international issues. So according to the design of the various levels of government, it’s correct that the state can override cities. (And in turn, Congress can override the states, but wasn’t supposed to happen that much.)

      Of course this hasn’t really worked out in practice, with the federal government assuming more responsibilities. And I’m not saying any of this was a good or bad idea. But that’s how it was designed.

  • luckyhunter@lemmy.world
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    2 years ago

    Crazy. Schools are there to work for the parents, not hide things from them. If child abuse is suspected they are required to report it to police. If any teacher tried to hide something like this from me about my kid I’d report them for child abuse.

      • affiliate@lemmy.world
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        2 years ago

        reading posts like the one you’re replying to, and hearing the ways many conservatives talk about children, makes me think they don’t want kids so much as they want to be “parents”. it doesnt seem as though many of them like or respect their kids, so much as they view having kids as a necessary part of the atomic family and “good conservative living”. having kids is like having an F150, you’re just supposed to have them. and like trucks, it’s annoying when they have problems or when they don’t perfectly match the ideas parents had about what kids are “supposed to be”.

        i think this is why it’s so inconceivable for them that schools should work for the children. the mechanic works on the truck, but it doesn’t work for the truck.

          • Tygr@lemmy.world
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            2 years ago

            You saying “no” is incorrect because they are part of the everyone you mention.

            Also, everyone does not pay the bill. Only homeowners and renters (taxes baked into their rent cost). Let’s not forget how many people are homeless (and growing).

        • Ensign_Crab@lemmy.world
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          I am childless and I also pay for public schools to teach students. I don’t pay for them to out children to abusive parents like you want.

        • htrayl@lemmy.world
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          2 years ago

          We all “pay the bill” because educating children is a moral requirement for humanity.

          It’s not a service you are paying for for yourself. That is warped sense of morality.

        • utopianfiat@lemmy.world
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          2 years ago

          Children are human beings and human beings aren’t property and you don’t get the right to control their entire lives because you pay for their basic needs.

      • luckyhunter@lemmy.world
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        2 years ago

        They wouldn’t. They know if anyone tries to tell them to keep a secret from Mom and Dad that person is bad person.

        • Ensign_Crab@lemmy.world
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          2 years ago

          They know if anyone tries to tell them to keep a secret from Mom and Dad

          And who is telling them that in this situation?

        • darq@kbin.social
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          2 years ago

          They know if anyone tries to tell them to keep a secret from Mom and Dad that person is bad person.

          But that isn’t what is happening in this situation. The teachers are not telling the child to keep a secret. The child is asking the teachers to keep a secret. It’s literally the opposite situation.

          • luckyhunter@lemmy.world
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            That’s true, and it’s the teacher’s duty to report any change of behavior to the administration and parents. Imagine your kid coming home with a black eye, and when you call the school to ask WTF happened they responded “we don’t have to tell you.”

            • darq@kbin.social
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              Hang on. You completely mischaracterised the situation in your previous comment, but then when that is pointed out to you, you just continue on without acknowledging that you had the situation completely backwards?

              No. Acknowledge that you previous argument was nonsense.

              Imagine your kid coming home with a black eye

              Why are you imagining a completely different situation and pretending that it is relevant to what is happening here?

              A child trying out a different name or pronouns is not harmful to the child or anyone else. A child suffering physical abuse is.

            • SheeEttin@lemmy.world
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              A black eye is direct harm. If you’re suggesting that being gay is equally a direct harm to a person, then you’re just an objectively bad person.

              • luckyhunter@lemmy.world
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                2 years ago

                I’m not suggesting anything. I’m clearly stating that withholding information from parents about their children makes you a monster.

        • DessertStorms@kbin.social
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          The kids are the ones asking for a secret, their secret, to be kept from you (and I don’t even mean the general you, I mean specifically you, because you’ve made it clear you view your kids, if you even have any, as your property, and any child to a parent like that would be keeping more secrets from you than you will ever be willing to admit), not the teacher, so as if your point wasn’t weak enough already, you’re literally making no sense at all at this point.

    • darq@kbin.social
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      2 years ago

      Crazy. Schools are there to work for the parents, not hide things from them.

      If the child felt safe at home, their parents would likely already know.

      If child abuse is suspected they are required to report it to police.

      Firstly, the abuse could start after the parent’s are notified, at which point it is too late. But secondly you and I both know that this is absolutely not how things actually shake out in the real world. Parents regularly get away with abusing their children, even more so when the abuse is not physical.

      If any teacher tried to hide something like this from me about my kid I’d report them for child abuse.

      Then I hope you face consequences for spurious reporting.

      (edit: apostrophe’s!)