In a recent divorce case, a parent with felony convictions, a history of domestic violence and “extremist views regarding religion, including jihad,” was prohibited, “in the best interests of the children” from discussing with his children “any issues pertaining to his religion.” The use of the phrase “in the best interests of the children” leaves considerable latitude of interpretation that can have unintentionally unconstitutional repercussions.

You can read the editorial here, at the St. Petersburg Times: http://www.sptimes.com/2007/02/10/Opinion/Can_courts_stop_a_par.shtml

From the article:

"In December, a New York appellate court held that Daniel should be allowed supervised visitation after his parole expires this summer. But the court also upheld, in the name of "the best interest of the children," the trial court's order that Daniel not discuss with the children "any issues pertaining to his religion."

"It is surely in the children's best interests not to be taught militant jihad. But the trial court didn't apply a jihadists-only rule, or a "convicted felons lose their parent-child speech rights" rule. Rather, it applied the broad and subjective "best interests of the child" standard. Many parents might wonder how their own philosophies might be evaluated by family judges under that standard.

"In fact, a wide range of parental speech has been prohibited by family courts, all in the name of the child's "best interests." One parent was enjoined from making racial slurs in a child's presence. Another parent whose ex was a lesbian was ordered to "make sure that there is nothing in the religious upbringing or teaching that the minor child is exposed to that can be considered homophobic."

"If the rule is really "children's best interests above all," these results may make sense.

"But orders mandating or forbidding certain kinds of speech pose serious First Amendment problems. So does allocating civil rights, such as the right to spend time with one's child, based on a person's speech."

What do you think?

I think there are too many questions to list here!  But lots of food for thought.  Feast together and please consider sharing back your group discussion experience with us here.  Please reply within this thread with “First Amendment Dilema” in the subject line. Tell us where you live, about the group you discussed the topic with, and how you felt about the experience, along with your responses to the talking points above, or whatever thoughts occurred as a result of your discussion with others.

The point of these Education Conversation starters is to engage in some thoughtful and reasoned discussion about education, teaching and learning, something more far-reaching than knee jerk opinions or "gut" responses that may not fully give the due consideration that the many issues and topics facing us truly deserve.

We'll look forward to hearing back from you with your thoughts on this or any of our other SGD topics.
Thanks!

Theresa Willingham
Learning is for Everyone, Inc.
www.learningis4everyone.org