Great read! I bristled a bit at the idea of parenting as a conflict of interest, at least when applied to me. Ha. I’ve too often seen that kind of rhetoric used to justify pushing young people into things they don’t want to do, based on what the dominant culture overall thinks is good for them.
Things like sleepovers, school field trips to far away places for 11 year olds, or going back to the dentist’s chair alone at age 5. Adult coercion sold under the pretense of freedom for kids who don’t want those things.
But of course it can go the other way too, with parents unnecessarily controlling and curtailing desired freedoms.
It is an interesting position to be in - to reject the idea of parental rights, yet because adultism and ownership of children is so built into our culture, we find ourselves needing to fiercely advocate for a life where our children do have freedom. I too have been bothered by the “you know your child best” attitude in traditional homeschooling circles.
As for games, we adore them. We’ve been playing organ attack, small world, Oregon trail and settlers of Cataan on repeat lately.
oooo thanks for those recs!! making note. and yes - it's a tricky spot to sit in. In a way we homeschoolers owe EVERYTHING to parental rights. We get to do what we do because of this concept. We get to advocate for our child, like you said, and make sure they are treated with the respect they deserve and get the accommodations they need. And, I want to believe that if we built a culture where children's rights were central, those things could also happen, but under that umbrella. And that would ensure protection and care for even more children. But yeah - as things stand, we are relying on the parental rights movement for many of our child's needs and rights, especially in the US.
Great read! I bristled a bit at the idea of parenting as a conflict of interest, at least when applied to me. Ha. I’ve too often seen that kind of rhetoric used to justify pushing young people into things they don’t want to do, based on what the dominant culture overall thinks is good for them.
Things like sleepovers, school field trips to far away places for 11 year olds, or going back to the dentist’s chair alone at age 5. Adult coercion sold under the pretense of freedom for kids who don’t want those things.
But of course it can go the other way too, with parents unnecessarily controlling and curtailing desired freedoms.
Thanks for this!
Same. It felt super uncomfortable to sit with that statement, and as you can see I’m not sold on it either!
It is an interesting position to be in - to reject the idea of parental rights, yet because adultism and ownership of children is so built into our culture, we find ourselves needing to fiercely advocate for a life where our children do have freedom. I too have been bothered by the “you know your child best” attitude in traditional homeschooling circles.
As for games, we adore them. We’ve been playing organ attack, small world, Oregon trail and settlers of Cataan on repeat lately.
oooo thanks for those recs!! making note. and yes - it's a tricky spot to sit in. In a way we homeschoolers owe EVERYTHING to parental rights. We get to do what we do because of this concept. We get to advocate for our child, like you said, and make sure they are treated with the respect they deserve and get the accommodations they need. And, I want to believe that if we built a culture where children's rights were central, those things could also happen, but under that umbrella. And that would ensure protection and care for even more children. But yeah - as things stand, we are relying on the parental rights movement for many of our child's needs and rights, especially in the US.
So much to think about, thank you. And thank you for sharing my piece again, I’m glad that it resonated.
I adored it!