Stephen F. Gambescia: Government is becoming our childhood’s nightmare
An enduring character in a child’s nightmare is the boogeyman. Whether it be the misunderstood Casper the Friendly Ghost or the frightful Freddy Krueger, or a sundry of peculiar onlookers of the dark, such as the Australian Babadook, what children fear most is being taken from the comforts of their homes.
Mother or Father is the first one they call as they awaken from a nightmare or suspect someone is lurking in their bedroom. All societies give primacy to the right and responsibility of parents to care for and protect their children. It is a two-way primal instinct.
U.S. Courts historically have upheld the rights and responsibilities of parents to “raise their children,” as best as they know how. Unfortunately, these responsibilities given to parents are being encroached upon by all levels of government today, in areas ranging from the basic responsibility of feeding their children to having a say in what goes on in government sponsored schools, to approving medicinal or invasive and life changing surgical procedures.
Consider that the long-standing government funded and run school breakfast programs are expanding beyond what was initially intended, to now include all students qualifying and a movement to include government sponsoring free lunches to all children as well. For example, Pennsylvania Governor Shapiro has appropriated money in the 2024/5 state budget to provide “universal free breakfast to Pennsylvania’s 1.7 million public school students regardless of income, and free lunch to students eligible for reduced-price lunches.” No sooner did the Governor act that the American Heart Association’s lobbying efforts kicked in to have the state provide free lunches to all students, given its nationwide push to have no means test for free lunches in public schools.
All can agree that a hungry child is not ready to learn, and we should find ways to assist families in need. What will be the next move by the government after taking over parents’ responsibility to provide two-thirds of a day’s sustenance for their children?
Teaching one’s children about “the birds and the bees” has been the responsibility of parents since the beginning of time, regardless of how others judge the quality of their work. Most parents don’t disagree with some introduction of this delicate subject in school, but many have fair and reasonable questions about who is teaching what about sex, and at what grade level. A significant number of educators today, with support from school administrators, have gone well beyond discussing what is appropriate sex education, especially coming from a government entity.
Some may still hear a parent’s voice concerning best practice in hygiene, such as the adage “cleanliness is next to Godliness.” A new movement and set of terms, “period poverty,” are afoot to have schools provide free menstrual products available to students. In September, “the Shapiro Administration announced that all school districts, intermediate units, career and technical centers, and brick-and-mortar charter schools will receive funding to provide free period products to students.”
Similar to keeping students from being hungry during school hours, making sure girls are equipped when their menstrual cycle ends are worth exploring. Giving this responsibility to government is also worth questioning.
A slippery slope example, and one oddly enough contradicts the notion of “keeping government away from a woman’s body,” the “Biden administration proposes free over-the-counter birth control.”
Expected parents experience fun, joy, and at times may need to bite their tongue when selecting a name for their newborn. It would have been hard to imagine just a few years ago that an added query is what sex or gender to give their newborn. Subsequently, during the child and adolescent periods of caring for their child, several government entities are aiding and abetting the psychological affirming, and at times the medicinal and surgical treatment, for a metamorphosis of their child, while leaving parents in the dark. They, or other people outside parental authority, think the parents got it wrong in judging the sex of their child.
Recalling the final lines in the epic movie Halloween, the babysitter, Laurie (Jamie Lee Curtis), after a blood-curtailing experience with psycho killer Michael Myers, affirms the young boy’s suspicion that “It was the boogieman” that tormented them in their home that night. The final line in the movie, by the psychiatrist, affirms the presence of the boogeyman as well: “As a matter of fact, it was.”
Certainly, childhood and adolescent hunger, hygiene, and knowledge about doing what comes naturally calls for caring adult responses. The medical profession takes seriously parental informed consent with any type of treatment to minors. However, today’s children and adolescents and their parents should be unnerved by adults that are “helping” with such issues, while pushing parents away from their responsibilities. Today’s boogeyman looks a lot like Uncle Sam, and he seems to be everywhere in our homes, trying to replace Mom and Dad.
Stephen F. Gambescia is professor and director of an Interprofessional Doctor of Health Science program at Drexel University’s College of Nursing and Health Professions. His research and writing areas are in macro public policy issues.
Once you have control of a person’s food, hygiene and medicine, you pretty much have them in your control. Even if the parents don’t want or need the food and hygiene products for their children, the children soon enough see government handouts as normal and expected. a great way to inculcate a culture of dependency. I grew up in a time period where there was no hygiene products available for boys or girls free at school, no lunches/breakfasts available for everybody (only those that needed it). Most kids brought food from home and since the food was generally based on the child’s ethnic background, there was sometimes strange and exotic smells and if you traded lunches, strange and exotic flavours.
The school lunch program passed into Federal law in 1946, so I doubt Mr. Knoll grew up prior to this law. The school lunch program is designed for families who live below specific income levels. Children whose parents may not be able to send them to school with breakfast and lunch. These program make sure that children have the proper nutrition so they can focus and learn in the classroom and at home.
One of the factors that led to this law was WWII. At the end of the war we had millions of records of military personnel with their entry and exit medical exams. One of the most common problem that they faced was malnutrition when they entered or were drafted by the military.