Protecting Your Children by Knowing Your Rights

Free Resource Link: https://parentalrightsfoundation.org/opt-out-report/

Website: parentalrightsfoundation.org

In this episode, I introduce you to Michael Ramey.

He is president of the Parental Rights Foundation, a national nonprofit organization dedicated to the liberty of parents to direct the upbringing, education, and care of their minor children. He also serves on the governing board of United Family Advocates and the executive committee of the Coalition to End Hidden Foster Care, two national bi-partisan policy efforts to keep families together.

Michael earned his B.A. at Virginia Commonwealth University and his M. Div. from Southeastern Baptist Theological Seminary, both with honors. He is father to five children, whom he and his wife homeschool.

Today he speaks about:

Advocating for parental rights with a national nonprofit organization leader. (0:10)

Parental rights in education, including Supreme Court case. (1:37)

Parents' rights in education, including awareness of curriculum content. (7:30)

Mental health screenings in schools and parental rights. (9:17)

Protecting parental rights and autonomy in medical decision-making for children. (13:44)

Join me for this episode of Mommy Heal Thyself to learn more about protecting your children and your parental rights.

Transcript
(Note, this was transcribed using a transcription software and may not reflect the exact words used in the podcast)

Dr Michelle 0:18

Welcome everyone to another episode of mommy heal thyself. Today, I have with me the pleasure of speaking with Michael Ramey. He's the president of the parental rights foundation, a national nonprofit organization dedicated to the liberty of parents to direct the upbringing, education and care of their minor children. He also serves on the governing board of united family advocates and the Executive Committee of the Coalition to End hidden foster care, two national, bipartisan policy efforts to keep families together. Michael earned his BA at Virginia Commonwealth University and his master of divinity from southeastern Baptist Theological Seminary, both with honors and most importantly, at least, to be he is the father of five children whom he and his wife home school. Michael, thank you so very much for being here with us today. Thank you for having me. I tell you the pleasure and the wonderful blessing of five children. I know that wonderful experience myself, because I have five children, and so I'm curious as to what brought you into this realm of advocating for

Unknown Speaker 1:35

parental rights.

Micheal 1:37

Actually, it's kind of an interesting story in that it's so not interesting. My father in law became the direct, the executive director of this organization, parental rights.org which is the precursor. It's a 501 c4 precursor to the parent rights foundation, which is 501 c3 nonprofit. And he needed somebody who could communicate well and who could write. So he brought me in to help do that, and as but, but you can't communicate about parental rights without understanding it and learning it. So I had to do a deep dive and find out what it is I need to be communicating. To be communicating. And in doing so, I just learned so much. And of course, I'm very passionate about it, because I'm a father myself, and have children that I recognize are better off with me than with the government. So it became very personal along the way. But it started off. It was I needed a job, and there was a job available in communication. So that's where I started.

Dr Michelle 2:18

I'm curious your experience with this organization, has it? Or did it inspire you to homeschool? Or was it vice versa?

Micheal 2:25

No, we were already determined to homeschool, and I'm trying to think how the timing went down, because I've been here since 2008 we started homeschooling my oldest, yeah, a year or two before that, so we were already homeschooling and just but the more we look at it, the more we're grateful that we have not and that's not condescending or judging people whose whose kids are in public school or private school. For us, it's simpler and easier and more peaceful to homeschool, because we know from the start who's having an influence on our kids and the things that they're learning, because that's us. So it's just in some respects, that's a lot easier than being responsible, because as parents, we're still responsible for the upbringing and the education of our children, even if we kind of outsource it to somebody else. So we have to know what they're learning. They're learning, and we have to know what they're being taught and who's doing the teaching. And that's a lot of homework. Well,

Dr Michelle 3:07

I'm curious, you know, why would you say that we need to know what their what our children are being taught, and who's teaching them, and things of that nature? I mean, aren't our children basically just learning the three R's, reading, writing and arithmetic? I mean, what's going on? Why should we be concerned? Why? Why is it so important for us to have this understanding and also to have an understanding of what our parental rights are,

Micheal 3:26

what's going on? Well, I think since 2020, um, really, parents don't even, you don't even need me to answer that question. Now, parents really woke up when the school sent their children home during the covid pandemic and did schooling from home, and parents were able to look over their child's shoulder and see the things they were learning and see the things they were being exposed to. And there's a reason that our that our reading scores are so low and our math scores are so low because they're not highlighting skills, and they're not highlighting proficiency in those areas. They're highlighting more of a social agenda. And want children to grow up believing a certain way. It's almost kind of a religious aspect to it, and not in every school and not in every classroom, but far too often. And so it really is just a mess out there. Parents became aware of that, like I said, during the pandemic, and so they know now, as well as are better than I do, because they saw it firsthand with their kids. And again, that was homeschooling mine. And so they know it's not just reading, writing and arithmetic that, you know, there's a whole different world and a whole different worldview going on in the classroom, and you've got to be careful about, you know, what your child is learning, because ultimately, you're the one, you're the expert on your child, and you're the one, you're the expert on your child, and you're the one responsible for your child. And I'm really proud of parents in general, you know, since 2020 when they saw that, they weren't just like, Oh no, they made a mess of my kid. Oh well, there's nothing I can do about it. It's in a wait a second, I'm the parent. Buck stops with me. I'm

Dr Michelle 4:35

going to do something about it. Well, you know, you and I may be very aware of what's happening in our schools. I also have the perspective. Not only was I a homeschooling parent, but I also taught in our educational system, and I was just flabbergasted as a teacher to find out what was happening. One of my main concerns that I've been advocating for for over 20 years now is over medicalization of our children. Back when I was teaching, there was a significant push to put our children on Add meds and things of that nature, and that was just expanded to include a whole lot more. Subsequently, I would love for you to go into two things. Number one, to give us more of an awareness of what are some of the non academic things that are being integrated into our children's curriculums that we as parents need to be aware of. And secondly, for you to give us a little bit more of an insight into what's happening as it pertains to mental health issues. I know there's recently, recently, they have started to expand to do some really nefarious things, and I think I would love for you to explore that with our audience,

Micheal 5:29

sure. Well, to the first part of your question, I think I would just refer to a Supreme Court case that was just decided at the end of June, just a couple months ago, of Mahmoud versus Taylor, which came out of Baltimore, and it had to do with it. It was a Jewish family, a Catholic family and a Muslim family came together and brought their case against the Baltimore School system because the school system was teaching this sort of LGBTQ gender ideology and this kind of thing to children even in the youngest of grades. And you know, if they put it in the curriculum, the parents can know about that and have an opportunity to opt out. But, but they were incorporating stories and books into the classroom and then requiring children to read those. And at first they allow parents to opt out, and then they said, Well, this is, this is too much paperwork for us, too much administration, too many parents opting out, where we're going to just remove that option. And it's just, it's there. The kids need to just do this. And parents said, No, wait a minute, you're inculcating values into my child that I disagree with. And you know, the state of Maryland argued, no, it's not values, it's just education and, you know, this kind of thing. But the Supreme Court sided with the parents, and they said, No, this is inculcating values in the way it's being done. You are pushing on these children a worldview contrary to that of their parents. And another argument that the state made was, well, the parents can choose to homeschool or send their kids to private school, and the Supreme Court, I think, wisely, recognized that that's not a financial option for a lot of parents. And so saying that, you know, this is a right that's only preserved for parents who send their kids to private or home school. Is that's no right at all. And so the Supreme Court, again, sided with the parents and said, No, you can't do that. So it's, you know, when you come down to inculcating values in the child, that's an area of reserve to the family and to parents. And so I was really grateful that the Supreme Court upheld that, and sort of restored a bit of that, because there were some cases back in like 1995 field sources, Palmdale and in the early 2000s I want to say was like 2003 but it might be 2006 my brains not quite sharp on that one in part of the early out of the First Circuit Chelsea Palmdale was the ninth circuit. Neither is the Supreme Court case, but, but in both instances, basically the attitude of the court was, your parental rights. Essentially ended the classroom door. Classroom door once you decide Parker, Parker V Hurley said, basically, once the parent decides to send their child to the public school, then the parental rights are greatly diminished. You know, if you want to exercise your parent rights, take your child out of the public school and send them someplace else, basically. And so my mood. D Taylor kind of pushes back on that and says, No, parents still have rights in inculcating values in their children that you're not supposed to mess with, even inside the school, the school room door. So, so that was a good and exciting ruling that will help there. And

Dr Michelle 7:48

you know, I think the one of the key things that you're bringing up is for parents to really be aware of what their children are learning, what books are being utilized. And it's important because the weaving of certain ideologies is insidious. I mean, it can be woven into everything, including mathematics books, right? How do you say Michelle? Because in math, we have quote, unquote, problem solving, you know, until they'll weave certain things into what you would perceive as being innocuous, like, Oh, they're just learning math, or they're just learning science, you know. But no, you have to be very, very aware as a parent, go through your child's textbooks, look at your children's assignments, have conversations with your children, because that was one of the ways that I actually became aware of this. Now it is crazy, because I was a math teacher and an English teacher, and I had no awareness that they were starting to put that into the curriculum. What do I mean? My children had a conversation with me, and they said, Yeah, you know, Susie had their books. And I was like, What are you talking about? Their books? Susie had her books. They're like, No, Mom, no mom, it's supposed to be they. I'm like, What the heck we're talking about? You know, you and I went through the basics of grammar, subject, verb agreement, kind of thing. But that is where they're they're slowly weaving this into the curriculum. And I'm here in Florida. I'm not in one of the blue states, and that's why I'm saying Be very, very aware of how this is woven into conversations, how it's woven into your child's assignments, how it's woven into the books, because these teachers are all being taught at certain types of universities, and that is where this is coming from. It's coming all the way back into the teaching of the teachers,

Micheal 9:15

right? Yeah, absolutely. I mean, I was a Spanish major, and so even more in Spanish than in English. There, you have to know if a verb is or a noun or an adjective is masculine or feminine. And that's just, I mean, Spanish words have a masculine or feminine that we don't even think of as masculine or feminine. You know, it's just, it's a car. What do you mean? It's masculine? You know, a coach is masculine. You know, that kind of thing. And so then for us to be twisting the language around to try to pretend is it's, it's it's just confusing,

Dr Michelle 9:42

it's confusing and it's dangerous and it's deadly, because now we are in that zone of pushing this type of ideology, like you said, this religion, which is having a significant impact on the psycho, emotional, mental aspects of our children, and subsequently physical. And you know, that leads us to the next part of my question, with regards to what's happening, or what's coming down the turnpike for our school systems as it relates to quote, unquote, mental health,

Micheal 10:06

right? And the concern there is that there are some states passing laws to increase screenings and increase testing to find, you know, what children are having mental health issues and this kind of thing, so that they can put them on the proper, you know, put them on the proper treatment, which is a fancy way of saying, you know, give them drugs, right? So, but it's concerning, because the more they do these screenings, they're going looking for problems for the school to try to solve, as though parents aren't capable of recognizing problems and solving them ourselves. And so one thing I would really want your listeners to know about is the Protection of Pupil Rights Amendment, which is a federal law passed in 1978 sometimes called the hatch amendment. It was passed four years after FERPA, the Family Education Rights and Privacy Act, which was passed in 1974 and so these two kind of go together, and FERPA guards your privacy, the privacy of your child's student records, but significantly, FERPA also includes you, the parent, as the rights holder. You are inside the sphere of confidentiality with your child. So those records are private, but they're not private from you. They are private for you and your child. The Protection of Pupil Rights Amendment kind of expands a little bit. It goes into some more detail on some of some of these. It's some of the things protected by FERPA, or wants to make sure, kind of alongside things protected by FERPA. Then it covers these surveys, these screenings that they do. And so first of all, parents have the right to review any curriculum or material, or even the teacher guidance related to any teaching, related to the survey or analysis or evaluation that the school is doing. And then secondly, there are eight, eight areas or topics that are specifically named in the legislation, in this federal law that say parents have to opt in to the school has to secure the parents written permission before they can ask about before they can ask your child about their or their family's political beliefs, mental problems, sex behaviors or attitudes, anything self incriminating, any anti social behaviors, any critical appraisals of somebody close to the family, any relationships with lawyers, doctors, ministers or other people with whom you have a confidential relationship, their religious beliefs or practices and the family's income levels. And the exception to the income level being you know when you fill out the federal FAFSA for student aid, of course, it's appropriate then to let them know your income level. But if, if your child's elementary school is doing a questionnaire and they're asking, How much money does mom or dad make? That's one of those things that's protected here under their PPRA, the production of Pupil Rights Amendment, so the parent has to opt into that, has to sign the consent form before they can ask your child those questions.

Dr Michelle 12:28

And you know, Michael, you are so wonderful, and you're so so much more diplomatic than I because, and I guess maybe because I'm coming from a teacher's perspective, I know what they do with that data, and I don't, I do not believe that it's simply about, quote, unquote, identifying our children that have mental health issues. First and foremost, we have to recognize that those assessments were initially designed by various drug companies like Pfizer. And the reality is, if you're looking for something, you're going to find it. I you know when you when we think about the the manual for psychiatry, every single one of us can be diagnosed with something according to those manuals, and with the diagnosis comes quote, unquote, the treatment, you know. So as I said to you before, I've been fighting this for over 20 years, when it started with things like add ADHD. And as you know, our children are targeted from the very beginning if anything happens where that child doesn't comply with the norms of that school system, or what they think a child or student should act like, then they put a label on it, and then they want to intimidate parents into putting their children on these medications. I've had, you know, we did a summit about 10 years ago in commemoration for a mother who lost her son, which they forced her to put him on Ritalin, even though he had a heart condition and he dropped dead on the basketball court at the age of 16. Nobody gets sued for that, and now that's what they're now. They're expanding this where practically every child, I bet you, is going to be diagnosed as either depressed or anxious or bipolar, or you name it. They're going to have a diagnosis for everything that is normal, in terms of grief or sadness or, you know, sometimes you just having a funky day, or sometimes you're dealing with a lot of issues in your family, and the first thing that they're going to want to put onto these families is a medication to create a patient for life. Because once you have that person on that medication at that young age, it is highly unlikely that that person will get off of the medication as they get older. And one of the really

Micheal 14:17

scary things there from the parent perspective too, is once somebody connected with the state, somebody with some sort of state power, decides that your child should be on x, then if you as the parent, decide, no, my child's behavior gets worse when you're on x, or my child has these, these heart symptoms, or whatever it might be when he's on X, I'm not putting my child on x because that's not best for my child, then some other state agency can come along and say, Well, this is medical neglect. This is you're not treating your child the way we've said you're supposed to treat your child, which is where that fundamental right of parents to direct the upbringing, the education and the care of their children is so important, and why we have to keep fighting for that right.

Dr Michelle 14:50

And that is why I do what I do. Because I lost my daughter because of that, they came into our family and they decided that this was going to be the diagnosis, and because I did not go along with medicating her. Even though we worked with her, we did things with regards to our lifestyle, her diet, all of those things, and all of her symptomology abated. But the state came in and said, Oh, Michelle is not doing X, Y and Z in accordance with the diagnosis. She's not using the people that we want her to use as medical providers. And so they took my daughter away. And the crazy thing is that you don't want to get into that situation because you or not you, the majority of us do not have the financial resources to hire legal counsel to navigate through those shark infested waters. You know, of course, they gave me a court appointed defender or whatever, but that person didn't know anything. I had to be educating that lawyer on what were the medical parameters of what my daughter was dealing with? So obviously, that person was not in the in the capability to be able to adequately defend me and my parental rights, you know. So Michael, tell us a little bit more about what we can do proactively to be able to, number one, know what our rights are, and number two, protect our children and our rights more effectively. Well, our

Micheal 16:05

website is parental rights foundation.org, there to get a general idea and a starting point as to what your rights are. But one of the things that our organization has been working on the last several years, we're trying to to bring in better policy and to we've created some model state laws that are beginning to be passed in various states that will protect parents in that situation, for instance, of a bill that was passed in Texas a couple of years ago that guarantees parents the right to a second medical opinion. So if they're accused of medical neglect or medical abuse, then the court has to consider the second opinion of the family's doctor. They have to weigh that against the opinion of the child abuse pediatrician, or whoever it is bringing charges against the parent in some against the parent in some states, we're also looking at some bills that that simply state that, you know, these medical decisions are in the purview of the parents and not the state, that kind of thing. So what we can do proactively is work on passing state law. It's the sort of thing that should be a no brainer. It should be common sense, and we should be able to leave it to common sense. You know, a child walking down the side of the road to visit the store and then walk back home a mile on a country road in a small, little rural area where it's safe. It's a no brainer that that's their parents right to let them do that. And yet, a mom last year, famously, in Georgia was arrested for that very thing. And so we're having to pass laws to say, No, this is not neglect, this is not abuse. But hey, if that's what we have to do, then that's what we're going to do. We're going to pass those laws if you're really so, you know, the agency, if the agencies are so stupid or so power hungry that we have to tell them all the things that are not neglected or not abuse, then that's what we need to do. So proactively, get involved in your state, in working on passing those laws to carve out parental rights in these areas and keep the

Unknown Speaker 17:37

state from intruding. And you know, I will add to that, Michael,

Dr Michelle 17:40

what we always tell people, which is, create a community for yourself, because if you are isolated, you are a big, easy target. That's what happened in my situation. I was basically trying to do single mom thing by myself, and I didn't have anyone in my court. And literally, there was no one in the court for me or with me. And so when they see that you're alone, they figure, ah, we got this in a bag, and they know that they're not going to get much pushback. But if you are part of a community, the squeaky wheel gets the oil, and you have a bunch of people that are behind you and with you that can go to the press, that can go to now, we have social media and all that kind of good stuff, but it's very important for us to create community, not only in terms of protecting our rights, but also to create a loving and safe environment for our children to be nurtured and to realize that we can't do it by ourselves, you know. So

Micheal 18:26

that's, yeah, that's excellent advice. And one facet of that, too is if you have opportunity to build a good relationship with your child's doctor, your child's pediatrician, you find a good one who holds the same values that you do. And I'm not trying to tell you what those values are, but you want somebody who matches your values in terms of vaccinations, in terms of what constitutes an emergency, all those things, if you can find that doctor and build that relationship that is worth its weight in gold when it comes down to because it's generally the doctor who will report some kind of medical thing, and if your doctor is on the same page with you, they're not going to report something as abuse because they understand it. Or another doctor who's not on the same page with you might call it in and suddenly you've got a nightmare.

Dr Michelle 19:00

And to add to that, you need a doctor who has some chutzpah, some balls. And the reason why I say that is because, again, I was able to have a quote unquote second opinion, meaning that our the doctor who was in charge of my daughter's health, she was phenomenal, absolutely phenomenal. But guess what? When she was called into court and asked to testify, it became, oh, well, I don't remember. I don't recall it was. It was just flabbergasting to me because I said, Oh, my God, this woman has been treating my daughter for almost three years, and she's going to sit there and say something safe, like, I don't remember, and I don't recall. It was just the most saddering thing for me to realize that I was really alone. So I mean, you may find a good doctor that is, that is nice and it goes along with what you're doing, but I'm saying you also need to find a doctor who's a fighter, who's going to who's going to stand up for you and for your child. Because we're living in a world right now where these types of doctors are coming under attack. They're losing their licenses. So I understand in a certain way why she did what she did, because Because where we were, it was a was a blue County. And so I know that, you know, she's thinking, hey, if I go up against, you know, the Department of Children and Family Services, that's not gonna look good for me, right? So I tell you now, Michael, one last thing, what would be, in your estimation, one of the most important things for us to do as parents? You I

Micheal 20:23

want to say, trust your instincts. That's kind of cliche, but it's true. You know, there's always going to be an expert out there with some number of letters behind your name telling you that you're wrong on something, but you're the expert on your child. You spend more time, more time with your child, from birth until their fifth birthday. Then then these experts will ever spend with your child. In fact, I just crunched the numbers a little while ago again to make sure I was remembering this correctly. If you spend you're spending close to 16 hours, 16 waking hours a day with your child for those first four or five years of life. And if a single teacher has your child every subject, six hours a day, 180 days a year for all 12 years of first through 12th grade, then they will come close to half the number of hours that you spend with your child in those first five years of life. You are the expert on your child. Regardless of how many letters a person has behind their name, they may know children. They don't know your child. So you know, trust your trust yourself. Trust what you know. Trust your instincts. But then the other thing I would say is, is continue to know your child now. Stay in touch with with them, with their lives, with what's concerning them. Listen to them. Don't belittle anything they you know, they immature. They're young. Their problems a little to us, but they're huge to them. So hear them out and stay on their on their page, and and so you remain the expert on your child, and you're you're in their corner. You're their best defense and their best strong power

Dr Michelle 21:35

Absolutely. Now I know that you have a wonderful resource for our parents. Could you tell us a little bit more about

Micheal 21:41

that. We have on our website an opt out overview. It's kind of from that Mahoney Taylor case that I talked about before in that it's on the same topic of parents wanting to opt their children out of various curricula and so forth. And so if your child is in the public school, then we have a page in this guide about your state, and what are the opt out provisions in your state, what they have to let you know about, or what you can opt out of, what you might have to opt into, or and so if you don't, then you don't need to worry about it. And so the state law is different in every state, and we so we've put together a guide. It's an opt out guide, state by state, and it just goes through and lists the legal provisions in all 50 states. And the District of Columbia points you to the source of law in your state and tells you what rights you have and what requirements a public school has before teaching your job, whether it's on sex ed or whatever it might be if there's not the opportunity.

Dr Michelle 22:28

That is an awesome resource you guys, and the link is going to be in the show notes. I encourage you to definitely go to that site and download that guide, because you just never know when you're going to need it, and even before you need it. I encourage you to look through it, to become aware of all of these various points that Michael has been stressing today. Well, Michael, thank you so very much for spending this time with us. And is there anything that we have not covered that you think is essential for our parents

Micheal 22:55

to know? I would just share in a nutshell, this, our motto is protecting children by empowering parents. And that really is, that's, that's your role, parent. We want to empower you, you know, give you that you have the authority. We want to give you the power against the power hungry government, to stand for your children, protect your children, teach and train and raise your children as you've sensed and you know, is right. You are their best defense,

Dr Michelle 23:16

and you are their God given protectors. I know these people. They actually believe that our children are theirs, right? But no, your children were blessed to you, and they are the ones that need to be protected by all of us. So Michael, thank you once again for sharing this time with us, for sharing this valuable information and for everybody else, until next time peace and

Unknown Speaker 23:41

blessings recording stopped.

Dr Michelle 23:45

Awesome. Thank you so very much. So what we're going to do is I'm going to go ahead and package this up, and then I think we're going to go ahead and release it next week, Monday. And once we do that, I will definitely send you that that information, the recording. And if there's anything else that I can do to be of assistance, please do not hesitate to reach out to us. Okay, thank

Unknown Speaker 24:07

you. I really enjoyed this.

Dr Michelle 24:08

I appreciate, appreciate the invite. Very much. Thank you. Alrighty, then thank you. God bless. God bless. And you know, I'm hoping that, have you been on, um, del b tree's show the high wire? No, I haven't. I'm hoping that he picks you up, because, like I said, there's some crazy things coming down the turnpike. And he actually had, last week, he had the information about a new bill that is being passed in California, some crazy, crazy stuff. I tell you, people are people are asleep. They think that covid was big. I was like, No, this has been going along Long before covid, and you just got a little snapshot view into it during covid. But trust me, when I say, they are not slowing down, they are not ramping down. They're just becoming more slick on how to prevent it. So now they're like, we're here to help your children, help them with these mental health issues. Oh, no, y'all

Unknown Speaker 24:50

already mentioned yourselves.

Dr Michelle 24:53

There's no way I want you anywhere near my child. I tell people, opt out of every single one of those assessments. If you feel that there's something awry with your child. You decide on the person who's going to give the assessment. Don't have the school, and then the other thing, you don't want those labels to be on your child, you know. So if anything, you go to your private provider, do whatever you want to do, but don't allow that information to go onto your child's records, because your child will be screwed for life.

Transcribed by https://otter.ai