What Do Kids Know? — Too Much?

Posted on November 4, 2005 in Justice PTSD Violence

David Markham again caught my eye with a story about a recent decision of the Ninth Circuit Court which actually matters. No, this has nothing to do with the words “under God” in the Pledge of Allegiance. This decision affects the lives of children who may or may not be the victims of sexual or physical abuse in their homes.

The school district in Palmdale, California cares about kids. So they distributed a questionnaire that asked children if they had been sexually violated. Among the questions were:

Touching my private parts too much
Thinking about having sex
Thinking about touching other people’s private parts
Thinking about sex when I don’t want to
Washing myself because I feel dirty on the inside
Not trusting people because they might want sex
Getting scared or upset when I think about sex
Having sex feelings in my body
Can’t stop thinking about sex
Getting upset when people talk about sex

Several years ago I worked with a woman who often complained about how California schools asked children questions similar to these and about violence in the home. What I gathered was that this co-worker slapped her kids in the face and dug her fingernails into their skin. The kids told her that this was against the law. In the end, she returned to Arizona where they didn’t give a damn about the young, where she thought she could hide.

Like any sociopath, she cried and cried about how she was the misunderstood one. I learned that her own family had disinherited her. Maybe the reasons for that were either silly or cruel, but her children suffered physically for that. The woman who shared her office told me that she was so very sorry for this lady. But then, this second woman was an office snitch and violent towards her own children. I did not know what to do back then. The personnel files were not open to me.

Yes, for their children, I would have violated their privacy.

Six parents brought suit against the Palmdale school district. If I were the local prosecutor, I’d have them investigated for child abuse. Hiding behind their outrage at these questions might be a desire to cover illegal activity. The 9th Circuit Court said that parents have no monopoly on sex information. For the children, it means protection from abuse.

Behind the so-called parenthood lobby stand vile desires and hatreds. Opponents of the decision call this a declaration making “parenthood unconstitutional”. I put protecting children ahead of parenthood. These parents not only want to reinstitute “spare the rod, spoil the child” but also “spare the penis, spoil the child”. They want to return us to the days when a kid could be forced down on a bed and have her or his genitals manipulated by their very own Wicked Cousin Ernie. Or Mom. Or Dad.

As a sufferer of PTSD layered atop my bipolar and OCD, I applaud this blow against the absolute despotism of the dysfunctional family. All institutions need checks and balances, ranging from the individual citizen to the federal government. Little boys and girls deserve protection because among us they are the most innocent. When the depraved wreck that innocence before its time, they insert panics that will raise havoc in the adults. The price the abuse victim pays lasts a lifetime. Therapy helps. The sooner she or he gets it, the better.

Schools need to watch parents as well as children. Sex criminals should not be allowed to drop the veil of right by procreation.