The stories they tell - you can never take them at face value

posted Jan 28, 2012, 9:59 AM by Bill Duncan   [ updated Jan 28, 2012, 10:10 AM ]
Parental rights advocates seem to be introducing many bills based on anecdotal reports that quickly become inaccurate myth, knowing they will get a sympathetic hearing in this libertarian Legislature. Here are three examples.

You really don't want to miss this.  The interviewer is great, not aggressive but clear about what the issues are.  Senator Forsythe explains the law as he sees in, in a way you have not heard before.  Well worth the time.

Senator Forsythe refers to the assignment of a short story called "The Crack Cocaine Diet" as one of the pieces of anecdotal evidence supporting the need for HB 542.  He says (0:45)

"There are some specific cases that motivated the legislation.  One example I'll give is that in one school district, the school had the kids read, I think it was in the low high school age, there was "The Crack Cocaine Diet" about some teenagers who decided they wanted to have a diet and a good way to do that would be to start taking crack cocaine.   

"When some parents went and complained to their school board about this they said it's tough luck that's part of the curriculum and your kid has to read it....and there are other examples of this"

That's not a reaction you would expect from a New Hampshire school board and, when you check, you find the story is nothing like that.  Here it is:

Reading List Controversy in the Granite State

Parents want School Books Banned

This is another in a long line of mythical stories used to support overreaching legislation.

Rep. JR Hoell (R-Dunbarton) tells another whopper in support of this bill, here.

And Rep. Will Smith (R-New Castle) does it again on his bill, HB 1461, expanding the requirements for parental notification before school presentations are made.  Senator Forsythe is a cosponsor on that bill.


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