Featured Question

True or False: You have a legal right to know if your teenage children will receive or have received medical treatment through the public schools or obtained permission to go to a medical facility for treatment during school hours.

View Answer

False. Schools are not always required to notify, request permission, or inform the parents of medical treatment their teenage children receive. In some states, this includes abortion procedures.ⁱ

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Source(s)

i. Laws as to what procedures minors can consent to without a parent or guardian vary by state.

National District Attorneys Association, “Minor Consent to Medical Treatment Laws,” (January 2013 Update), http://www.ndaa.org/pdf/Minor%20Consent%20to%20Medical%20Treatment%20(2).pdf (accessed 01/08/18)

And a parent in a state where a minor child is granted authority to make their own decision for a medical procedure may not have access to learn of the procedure without the child’s consent.

Abigail English and Carol Ford, “The HIPAA Privacy Rule and Adolescents: Legal Questions and Clinical Challenges,” Perspectives on Sexual and Reproductive Health 36, no. 2 (2004), 80-86, https://www.guttmacher.org/journals/psrh/2004/hipaa-privacy-rule-and-adolescents-legal-questions-and-clinical-challenges (accessed 01/08/18)

As an example, this California guide makes it clear that students can obtain confidential releases from school for certain medical appointments without parental notification.

National Center for Youth Law, “Confidential Medical Release: Frequently Asked Questions from Schools and Districts,” 2015, p. 4-5, https://youthlaw.org/wp-content/uploads/2016/01/FAQ-ConfidentialMedicalRelease-11-2015.pdf (accessed 01/08/18)

How Well Do You Know Your Rights?

Take the Parental Rights Quiz!

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Question 1
True or False: A mother in Minnesota was told that she could not access the medical records of any of her children 11 years old or older, or discuss her child's health with the physician, without obtaining her child's permission.

View Answer

True. Many states have laws empowering doctors to deny to parents medical records of their minor children, especially in areas of sexuality and reproduction. In Alabama, the minimum age is 14.ⁱ In Minnesota, these laws take effect when a minor child, regardless of age, consents to certain treatment exempting their records from disclosure.ⁱⁱ

Source(s) for Question 1
i. Fox Army Health Center, “Release of Information for Minors and HIPAA in Alabama,” (Redstone Arsenal, AL), http://www.redstone.amedd.army.mil/docs/hipaa/minors.pdf

ii. Minnesota law 144.343 says that "any minor may give effective consent for medical, mental and other health services to determine the presence of or to treat pregnancy and conditions associated therewith, venereal disease, alcohol and other drug abuse, and the consent of no other person is required."

This wreaks havoc when trying to define a parent as a "personal representative" under HIPAA (https://www.hhs.gov/hipaa/for-professionals/privacy/guidance/personal-representatives/index.html) since the child has authority under Minnesota law to exclude parents from health care decisions in these areas.

The combination of HIPAA and this section of state law leaves medical facilities with the power to deny to parents their child's medical records in these areas of health, in the name of the child's privacy.

Question 2
True or False: In most states, you will be denied access to library information about your children, including the titles of books which are accumulating late fees.

View Answer

True. Many states have laws that protect the “right to privacy” in children 9 years old and older, so parents cannot see Internet records or materials that have been checked out.ⁱ Public libraries encourage parents on their website to supervise their children’s use of the Internet, but do not release information on what your child views on a library computer.

Source(s) for Question 2

i. For an example, see Mellinger Memorial Library, “Library Policies,” http://www.morningsun.lib.ia.us/library-information/policies (accessed 01/06/17).

"Parents should be aware that as provided in Section 22.7 (13) of the Code of Iowa, they cannot have access to records of what their child checks out. This Code states that libraries may not reveal to another party any titles checked out by an individual. This law includes materials borrowed by children and requests by parents for information." [emphasis added]

While parents can get around this by not consenting to their child having a library card, their signature is not needed once a child reaches 14: "The following information is required when filling out a library card: name, address, phone number, sex, birthdate for persons under the age of majority, driver's license number, children's names, and parent's signature if applicant is under fourteen." [emphasis added]

Question 3
True or False: You have a legal right to know if your teenage children will receive or have received medical treatment through the public schools or obtained permission to go to a medical facility for treatment during school hours.

View Answer

Source(s) for Question 3

i. Laws as to what procedures minors can consent to without a parent or guardian vary by state.

And a parent in a state where a minor child is granted authority to make their own decision for a medical procedure may not have access to learn of the procedure without the child’s consent.

As an example, this California guide makes it clear that students can obtain confidential releases from school for certain medical appointments without parental notification.

Question 4
True or False: As a parent, you have the right to visit your children on public school grounds, for instance to have lunch with your child.

View Answer

False. Schools have the authority to deny parents permission to visit a child while at school. Schools are generally accommodating to parents who wish to visit their children, but are typically very specific in the timing, paperwork, notification, and manner of visits.ⁱ

Source(s) for Question 4

"We readily acknowledge that parents do have a constitutional right to direct their children's education, but the Meadows have put forth no caselaw for the proposition that this right extends so far as to include the unfettered right of a parent to visit all areas of a school campus while students are present." - Meadows v. Lake Travis Indep. Sch. Dist., 397 Fed. Appx. 1 *, 2010 U.S. App. LEXIS 18802

While most specific school policies are only available to parents, this Washington Post article shares how parents considering a school were denied the chance to visit. Jay Mathews, “Parents Denied Chance to Observe Classroom,” (Washington Post: 2011), https://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/class-struggle/post/parents-denied-chance-to-observe-classroom/2011/11/19/gIQA3GGCdN_blog.html?utm_term=.2734b1fa9fd5

Question 5
True or False: If your child is in a non-life threatening situation, a doctor cannot perform any medical procedures on him/her without first getting your permission.

View Answer

False. Numerous states have laws granting validity to a minor’s consent for medical procedures in certain areas, rendering parental consent legally unnecessary.ⁱ Minnesota, for instance, doesn’t even place a bottom age on these exceptions: “Any minor may give effective consent for medical, mental and other health services to determine the presence of or to treat pregnancy and conditions associated therewith, veneral disease, alcohol and other drug abuse, and the consent of no other person is required.” (Minnesota Statute 144.343(1), emphasis added.) The statute does, in sections not quoted here, provide for parental notification prior to a minor receiving an abortion, though consent is not required for that, either.

Source(s) for Question 5
i. See the resources referenced for Answer 3, as well as Guttmacher Institute, “An Overview of Minors’ Consent Law” (updated January 1, 2017), https://www.guttmacher.org/state-policy/explore/overview-minors-consent-law

Question 6
True or False: If you are an American parent, your child's doctor must have your approval before giving your child a vaccination.

View Answer

False. Because vaccinations are considered routine, parental consent is commonly not required if a minor assents to vaccination. Minnesota law indicates that for certain procedures parental opinion is not even considered: “A minor may give consent for a hepatitis B vaccination. The consent of no other person is required.”ⁱ

Source(s) for Question 6
i. Minnesota Statute 144.344(1), https://www.revisor.mn.gov/statutes/?id=144.3441

Note: The H1N1 flu vaccine often required parental consent: M.J. Ellington, "H1N1 School Clinics Begin," http://www.timesdaily.com/archives/h-n-school-clinics-begin/article_d162dde0-503f-5921-b376-debb6b44cadc.html

Question 7
True or False: A mother in Illinois was twice refused her request to opt her daughter out of sexual education lectures that she found objectionable.

View Answer

Question 8
True or False: If you make a payment to a Community College for your minor child's tuition, you are entitled to a receipt.

View Answer

False. Community colleges are not required by law to disclose the status of a student’s financial account, even if tuition is paid by the parent. Parents may access their student’s records (including tuition payments) if the student has given consent to such access.ⁱ

Source(s) for Answer 8
i. American University, “FERPA FAQs,” http://www1.american.edu/american/registrar/FERPA/faq.html, specifically talks about students needing to give consent to parents to access their records--even if the parents pay the bills:

"Why can’t I get my son/daughter’s grades/schedule? I’m paying the bills! FERPA does not permit American University to release non-Directory Information without the signed consent of your child."

Question 9
True or False: A mother was refused her 13-year-old daughter's grades when she enrolled her in an algebra class.

View Answer

True. Although FERPA requires schools to

“generally afford parents:

access to their children’s education records
an opportunity to seek to have the records amended
some control over the disclosure of information from the records,”

many schools require written permission from the student before releasing any information.ⁱ

Source(s) for Answer 9
i. "When a student reaches 18 years of age or attends a postsecondary institution, he or she becomes an "eligible student," and all rights under FERPA transfer from the parent to the student." [emphasis added] U.S. Department of Education, “FERPA General Guidance for Parents,” http://www.ed.gov/policy/gen/guid/fpco/ferpa/parents.html

FERPA quote is from Struthers City Schools, “FERPA General Guidelines for Parents from www.ed.gov,” http://strutherscityschools.org/assets/uploads/parent_notice_part_a.pdf

Question 10
True or False: We don't really need a Parental Rights Amendment to the United States Constitution.

False. If you are unhappy with any of the answers on this quiz, then it should be evident that a Parental Rights Amendment is necessary to prevent further erosion of your rights.