November 9, 2005 -- Federal Court Says Parents Have No Constitutional Right to be Only Source of Sex Ed

The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit in a ruling November 2 held that parents have no constitutional right to be the exclusive providers of information regarding sexual matters to their children and that parents have no due process or privacy right to override the determination of a public school concerning the information to which their children will be exposed while enrolled as students. At issue was a case in which parents challenged the right of the Palmdale School District in California to administer to elementary school students a survey intended to determine the extent to which children have been exposed to many forms of trauma, including inappropriate touching and other sexual experiences. The parents had been told the survey would be given and had been given the option of requesting that their children not participate. The parents who later filed suit had given permission for their children to complete the survey, but later said they had not known it would include sexual questions. The parents brought action against the school district and two of its administrators, arguing that the school had violated their privacy rights and their right “to control the upbringing of their children by introducing them to matters of and relating to sex.” In rejecting the parents’ complaint, the appeals court said, “We hold that there is no fundamental right of parents to be the exclusive provider of information regarding sexual matters to their children, either independent of their right to direct the upbringing and education of their children or encompassed by it. We also hold that parents have no due process or privacy right to override the determination of public schools; as to the information to which their children will be exposed as students.” The case was Fields v. Palmdale School District.