A Relationship Under Attack
THE POWER OF A PARENT
“They’re my foundation,” 17-year-old Kristiana St. John says of her parents in a recent Associated Press interview, “My mom tells me that even if I do something stupid, she’s still going to love me no matter what. Just knowing that makes me feel very happy and blessed.”
Kristiana was one of 1,280 young people asked to identify what makes them happy in a recent MTV/Associated Press survey. Overwhelmingly, these young people named spending time with family as their top answer. Nearly three quarters - 73 percent - said that their relationship with their parents is what “makes them happy.”
And studies show that the impact of parental involvement in a child’s life goes well beyond making them happy. The relationship that parents share with their children plays a powerful role in the child’s overall health and education.
PARENTS ARE NOT REPLACEABLE
“When parents are involved in their children’s education, kids do better in school,” the National Education Association (NEA) states on their website. A report posted on the site continues, “Students with involved parents, no matter what their income or background, are more likely to earn higher grades and test scores, enroll in higher-level programs, be promoted, pass their classes and earn credits, and attend school regularly.”
Dr. Benjamin A. Shaw of the School of Public Health writes that “exposure to parental support in childhood appears to be associated with indicators of both psychological and physical health” as a child approaches adulthood.
“The hallmark of [the parental] relationship is the readily observable fact that this special adult is not interchangeable with others,” writes Jack Shonkoff in a report on early childhood development, “A child may not care who cuts his hair or takes his money at the toy store, but he cares a great deal about who is holding her when she is unsure, comforts her when she is hurt, and shares special moments in her life.”
A RELATIONSHIP UNDER ATTACK
17-year-old Kristiana’s description of her parents as her “foundation” says a lot about the power of a parent in a child’s life. But tragically this foundation of parenthood is being slowly eroded.
The child-parent relationship is facing danger on two fronts. Federal court judges across the nation are denying parental rights, or refusing to recognize them because they are not explicitly protected in the Constitution. This threat, combined with the onslaught of international law that places government first and parents last in the lives of their children, could prove lethal to the child-parent relationship.
SECURING THE FOUNDATION
There is only one way to effectively secure the foundation of parenthood for this generation and the next: a constitutional amendment that explicitly protects the child-parent relationship from government intrusion. A constitutional amendment will ensure that the rights of parents to raise their children are honored by federal court judges, and recognized above international law.
We need your help to safeguard the precious child-parent relationship. One of the most powerful things you can do right now is to encourage your friends to get involved in this battle. Forward this email to your friends, and encourage them to join the campaign today and sign the petition at www.parentalrights.org.
RESOURCES
MTV/Associated Press Survey
What Makes U.S. Kids Happy?
http://www.theledger.com
National Education Association “Getting Involved in Your Child’s Education”
http://www.nea.org/parents
National Education Association “What the Research Says”
http://www.nea.org/parents
“Emotional Support from Parents Early in Life, Aging, and Health”
Shaw, Benjamin A., Neal Krause, Linda M. Chatters, Cathleen M. Connell, and Berit Ingersoll-Dayton
http://www.apa.org/journals
“From Neurons to Neighborhoods: The Science of Early Childhood Development”
Jack P. Shonkoff and Deborah A. Phillips, Editors
http://www.hsrc.ac.za/Document
