“Our children . . .”
This is a phrase recited by thousands of state legislators and activists spanning from sea to shining sea. If you live in states such as Connecticut and Texas, California and Arizona, or Washington and Florida, you have perhaps become so accustomed to this language that it is hardly noticeable anymore.
However, the “our children” language is a simple expression of a dangerous idea. Legislators, and even many citizens, have come to believe that individual children truly do belong to the community as a whole. In their minds, children are our responsibility, our treasure, our resource, our future. If we do not question and denounce this grammatical shift immediately, we passively accept a false premise: that the children belong to the collective rather than their parents.
READ: Jurisdiction: Who Gives Authority?
READ: Debunking the Myth: Government Responsibility for Education
The Grammar of the “Our Children” Language
Consider for a moment the grammatical make-up of the phrase “Our children.” There is one possessive pronoun (“our”) and one noun (“children”). Because there is possession, we must ask ourselves the question “Who is claiming possession of the children?”
Historically, biblically, and legally, parents hold possession of their God-given role as parents, making them responsible for their own children. In short, children belong to their parents, not the community, and the parents are responsible to God for their stewardship. See our article on Independent Parents for more insight on this claim. However, the subtle shift in language from “their children” to “our children” has marked a drastic philosophical change.
Because we live in a republic, the collective (we the people) governs through their representation, which is why it is so significant when legislators specifically use the “our children” language.
READ: Who Really Owns Your Child’s Education?
The Goal of the “Our Children” Language
The phrase “our children” is powerful and effective because it is usually used to advocate for things generally perceived as good things for children or for ending bad things that harm children. And who doesn’t want what is best for children? Consequently, any type of skepticism towards the “our children” arguments sounds as if the skeptic does not want good things for children.
What’s more, powerful government organizations and affiliates utilize the “our children” language to set up a confrontation with parents’ fundamental rights. To give good things and end bad things is the stated goal of the “2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development,” written and published by the United Nations Educational, Scientific, and Cultural Organization (UNESCO). It is also the intended goal of the Coalition for Responsible Home Education (CRHE) in their model policy, “Make Homeschool Safe Act.” In short, such legislators and think tanks want to pass legislation that will cause good things and stop bad things from happening to “our children.”
READ: What is the Make Homeschool Safe Act?
The Problem with “Our Children” Language
So, what is the problem? Education Independence wants the best for children. Why not get behind these coalitions and legislators in their aims to protect “our children?” The answer goes back to that possessive pronoun. God did not give legislators or the collective the role of owning and directing the education or lives of children. That great honor and responsibility is reserved for parents.
Some say that the government must have authority over all children because some parents sometimes harm their children. In matters of injustice, scripture does clearly give the government jurisdiction to punish evil and execute justice for the oppressed, and this applies to children as well. So, if a parent is found guilty of harming their children, the government has the duty to carry out a just punishment. But this responsibility is limited to being carried out after a provable injustice and does not extend to all families and all children at all times.
READ: Because I Said So: A Parent’s Stand for Freedom
READ: With True Ownership Comes Great Opportunity
What about Practical Solutions?
Oftentimes, the solutions proposed by these legislators and think tanks will bring about dangerous consequences for families, especially for homeschool families, while failing to address child suffering.
- They argue for parents to be investigated before being allowed to homeschool.
- They argue for the curriculum to be selected and regulated by the state.
- They argue for homeschooled children to meet with state-approved personnel to assess their health and wellness.
Within only a few years, we have seen these trends again and again. States like Michigan, New Jersey, Iowa, Georgia, Indiana, New York, and Connecticut are recent examples of these policy arguments being made in real time.
We do not oppose these measures because we are indifferent to child suffering, but because we care deeply about child suffering and recognize that methods have consequences. These things do not address actual abuse, neglect, or negligence by improving Child Protective Services or other state organizations. They only expand the scope of the state to investigate and oversee innocent parents who are simply loving and educating their own children. This is a complete disregard for the principle of “innocent until proven guilty.”
READ: Homeschooling Parents: Guilty Until Proven Innocent
The Real Solution
If there are legislators in your state who use the “our children” language, beware of the dangerous idea that undergirds their speech and legislative motives. If they introduce legislation that encroaches on your authority as a parent to own and direct your children’s education, contact them and kindly remind them that your children are not “our children”; they are yours.
READ: How to Contact Your State Legislators
If you are a parent, take a stand against state encroachment on parental autonomy by being above reproach. Love your children, care for them, educate them well, and befriend your legislators in and out of session so that they can see the beauty of home education.
READ: Parents: Equipped by God to be Educators
The United States Courts Back Parental Autonomy
Lastly, remember that the courts of America support the rights of parents to educate their own children freely. Consider these words from the ruling in Prince v. Commonwealth of Massachusetts in 1944:
“It is cardinal with us that the custody, care and nurture of the child reside first in the parents, whose primary function and freedom include preparation for obligations the state can neither supply nor hinder. . . . It is in recognition of this that these decisions have respected the private realm of family life which the state cannot enter.”
God has given parents autonomy over the stewardship of their children’s education. So, take courage. The state can only invade this private realm if parents and citizens more broadly let it in.
Encourage your neighbors to educate in freedom. Implore your legislators to respect the private realm of family life. Enjoy the blessings of the freedoms that were fought for in generations past. May God bless Independent Parents!
Examples of “Our Children” Language
The opinions presented in the cited news articles may not reflect the views of Education Independence.
Sen. Janie Ward-Engelking (D) — Idaho, District 18
In office: December 2013–present
Quote: “We stand instead of parents. When your children walk into our classroom, they become ours, and we listen to their fears, we dry their tears, we celebrate their successes… those kids in that classroom, they’re ours.”
Sen. Martin Looney (D) — Connecticut, Senate President Pro Tempore
In office: Connecticut State Senate since 1993; Pro Tem since 2014
Quote: “The state has a responsibility to protect children. In other words, it’s not only the parents who have a responsibility for those children.”
President Joe Biden — U.S. President
In office: 2020–2024
Quote: “There is no such thing as someone else’s child. No such thing as someone else’s child. Our nation’s children are all our children.”
Vice President Kamala Harris — U.S. Vice President
In office: 2020–2024
Quote: “When you see our kids, and I truly believe that they are our children, they are the children of our country, of our communities—I mean, our future is really bright if we, if we prioritize them.”
Gov. Terry McAuliffe (D) — Virginia
In office: Governor of Virginia 2014–2018
Quote: “I don’t think parents should be telling schools what they should teach.”
The Michigan Democratic State Central Committee
Posted: January 15, 2022; deleted January 17, 2022
Quote: “Not sure where this ‘parents-should-control-what-is-taught-in-schools-because-they-are-our-kids’ is originating, but parents do have the option to choose to send their kids to a hand-selected private school at their own expense if this is what they desire. The purpose of a public education in a public school is not to teach kids only what parents want them to be taught. It is to teach them what society needs them to know. The client of the public schools is not the parent, but the entire community, the public.”
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