HB 188 has the potential to inject governmental oversight of how you raise your children into just about every aspect of your lives, folks.
Full of sweeping general statements on the rights children should have, this bill not only wastes time and taxpayer money to state the obvious, but it fails to clearly define the issues it's crafted to address, especially as they pertain to discipline, education, and home life.
Apparently Rep. Alonzo thinks parents statewide need the state to teach them how to parent. If the bill is targeting families in poverty or who have a history of problems documented by Children's Protective Services, it doesn't say. Ergo, we are left to assume this bill is gunning for everybody.
And it's worth noting that even though the state cannot seem to graduate students from 12 years of public high school who can, across the board, read, write and do math suitable to begin a college career, HB 188 would provide for the development and implementation of a "curriculum" to be used at regionally located "family education centers."
Try to smother your laughter.
Finally, upon receipt of your child's birth or adoption certificate, you'd also be presented with a signed-by-the-governor copy of the law just so you, the ignorant fool, would know the eyes of Texas were now upon you.
Insulting? Patronizing? Downright ridiculous? You decide.
The bill is worded thusly:
81R457 KSD-D
By: Alonzo
H.B. No. 188
A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
AN ACT
relating to the rights of children and the education of parents
regarding their duties as parents.
BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
ARTICLE 1. CHILDREN'S BILL OF RIGHTS
SECTION 1.01. Chapter 151, Family Code, is amended by
adding Section 151.005 to read as follows:
Sec. 151.005. CHILDREN'S BILL OF RIGHTS. (a) It is the
intent of the legislature to ensure that:
(1) children are the number one priority of this
state; and
(2) parents are educated regarding their duties under
law as the primary protectors of their children.
(b) It is the policy of this state that each child has the
right to:
(1) live in a safe, healthy, and comfortable home in
which the child is treated with respect;
(2) be free from physical, sexual, emotional, and
other abuse or neglect and any form of discipline that humiliates or
demeans the child;
(3) receive adequate and healthy food;
(4) receive access to a quality education; and
(5) receive appropriate medical, dental, vision, and
mental health services.
SECTION 1.02. Chapter 265, Family Code, is amended by
adding Section 265.006 to read as follows:
Sec. 265.006. PUBLIC AWARENESS AND OUTREACH CAMPAIGN
REGARDING CHILDREN'S BILL OF RIGHTS. (a) Not later than September
1, 2010, the department shall develop and implement a statewide
public awareness and outreach campaign designed to educate the
public regarding the legislature's adoption and content of the
children's bill of rights under Section 151.005.
(b) The department may solicit and accept gifts, grants, and
donations from any public or private source for purposes of this
section.
(c) This section expires December 31, 2011.
SECTION 1.03. Subchapter A, Chapter 192, Health and Safety
Code, is amended by adding Section 192.0035 to read as follows:
Sec. 192.0035. PRESENTATION TO PARENTS OF PROCLAMATION OF
CHILDREN'S BILL OF RIGHTS. (a) As soon as practicable after a
child's birth or adoption certificate is filed under this chapter
or a child's birth is reported under this chapter, the department
shall present to each of the child's parents a written proclamation
of the children's bill of rights prescribed by Section 151.005,
Family Code.
(b) The department, in consultation with the office of the
governor, shall establish the form, content, and manner of
presentation of the proclamation required by this section. The
proclamation must include a signed statement from the governor
congratulating the parent on the child's birth and informing the
parent of the parent's duties in relation to the child imposed under
the Family Code and other law.
(c) The executive commissioner of the Health and Human
Services Commission shall adopt rules for the administration of
this section.
ARTICLE 2. FAMILY EDUCATION CENTERS
SECTION 2.01. Subchapter F, Chapter 130, Education Code, is
amended by adding Section 130.093 to read as follows:
Sec. 130.093. FAMILY EDUCATION CENTERS. (a) The board of
trustees of a junior college district may establish, in conjunction
with other public or private institutions of higher education and
other participating private entities, a family education center.
The family education center must be administered under a formal
agreement entered into by the district with the other member
institutions and entities.
(b) The family education center shall provide comprehensive
family educational activities and training to the residents of the
region in which the center is located.
(c) The member institutions and entities of the family
education center shall establish the curriculum for the center in
consultation with the prevention and early intervention services
division of the Department of Family and Protective Services. The
curriculum must be designed to:
(1) educate parents regarding their duties under law
as the primary protectors of their children;
(2) promote the prevention and amelioration of child
abuse and neglect;
(3) reduce the need for state and local services
addressing child maltreatment; and
(4) engage family members in individual and group
sessions designed to:
(A) prevent the occurrence of family violence;
(B) address addiction problems and other mental
health issues of family members;
(C) equip family members with strategies to
reduce stress and anxiety and creative ideas for family activities;
(D) foster communication, respect, forgiveness,
and intimacy among family members;
(E) build self-esteem;
(F) develop short- and long-term family goals;
(G) develop vocational skills;
(H) develop life skills, including skills
relating to parenting, discipline, positive reinforcement, infant
care, household budgeting, financial planning, daily planning of
household chores, nutrition and wellness, personal care, and
community volunteerism; and
(I) address any other family educational goals of
the local community served by the center.
(d) The member institutions and entities of the family
education center shall work with the local community to identify
and offer courses that will meet the family educational goals for
the region served by the center.
(e) The member institutions and entities of the family
education center, under the terms of the formal agreement, may make
provisions for adequate physical facilities for use by the center.
(f) The member institutions and entities of the family
education center may solicit, accept, and administer, on terms
acceptable to the members, gifts, grants, and donations of any kind
and from any public or private source for use by the center.
SECTION 2.02. Chapter 265, Family Code, is amended by adding
Sections 265.007 and 265.008 to read as follows:
Sec. 265.007. FAMILY EDUCATION CENTER CURRICULUM
DEVELOPMENT. On request by the member institutions and entities of
a family education center established under Section 130.093,
Education Code, the department shall assist the member institutions
and entities in developing a comprehensive curriculum for the
center designed to meet the goals prescribed by Section 130.093(c),
Education Code.
Sec. 265.008. FEASIBILITY STUDY REGARDING FAMILY EDUCATION
CENTERS; REPORT. (a) The department shall evaluate the feasibility
of requiring certain families who are the subject of a report of
alleged abuse or neglect of a child under this subtitle to
participate in educational activities offered by a family education
center established under Section 130.093, Education Code, as an
alternative to removing the child from the child's home.
(b) Not later than December 1, 2010, the department shall
prepare and submit to the lieutenant governor, the speaker of the
house of representatives, and the members of the legislature a
report containing the department's findings regarding the
feasibility study conducted by the department under Subsection (a)
and the department's recommendations regarding whether family
education centers should be established statewide.
(c) This section expires September 1, 2011.
ARTICLE 3. EFFECTIVE DATE
SECTION 3.01. This Act takes effect immediately if it
receives a vote of two-thirds of all the members elected to each
house, as provided by Section 39, Article III, Texas Constitution.
If this Act does not receive the vote necessary for immediate
effect, this Act takes effect September 1, 2009.
Who is going to determine what constitutes the appropriate degree or type of the various things listed at the beginning of this bill? Medical care? Some people use it sparingly, some take their kids to the doctor every time they sneeze. Healthy and comfortable home? So kids who sleep two to a bed in a 700 s.f. house with analog TV and an old junker for transportation may be yanked from their families because their peers a neighborhood away enjoy single beds in private bedrooms with plasma TVs and a Lexus in the garage? Adequate and healthy food? My kids are vegetarians and to some folks this is paramount to starvation. Where on earth DO we get our protein? Would the state compel me to serve them meat? Quality education? Oh, this is a biggie. Teachers' unions would say we homeschoolers are absolutely not providing our children with quality ed. Does this mean the state would force us to feed our children to the public schools?
Rep. Alonzo's bill doesn't say. It's poorly worded. It seems to want to focus on establishing these family education centers but he constructs his argument for such a project by listing all the things Texas kids have a "right" to without clearly explaining how fulfillment of those rights should look.
I do think some families need help. Some parents are lousy at their job and the number of children in foster care is proof of that. So wouldn't it make more sense to streamline efforts to target those families in crisis while leaving the rest of us alone?
And before I get off my soapbox about this, am I the only one who finds it odd that HB 188 so righteously points out that "children are the number one priority of this state" even as far too many of our public schools suffer under the weight of illegal immigration, rampant drug use, crumbling facilities, fiscal mismanagement, and predatory teachers?
If children are the number one priority in Texas and the state government REALLY wants to do something to help its youngest citizens, I want the state to make a conviction for child molestation carry a minimum penalty of life without possibility of parole, fix all the broken-down schools and fully equip them with stocked libraries and adequate classroom supplies, do away with the standardized testing regimen that stresses our kids and scares away good and creative teachers, throw out all the social engineering that sucks up valuable academic hours in public school and get back to the basics of a solid education, compel hospitals to give every new mother a crash course in the importance of breastfeeding her newborn, create more task forces to nail internet child pornographers to the wall, and distribute grant money to build more playgrounds and neighborhood parks especially in poorer neighborhoods.
Where's the bill that tells the state to do all that?
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