Kristent Ressurssenter has created a draft letter or email that can be sent to principals, municipal leaders, school management and the school owner with legal provisions that are violated by forced pride marking, or pride flagging on public flagpoles in schools. We have emphasized the Education Act for the students, and parental rights for parents.
To the principal of [school name]
Concern and protest against pride celebrations at school – with demands for legal response and cessation of pride
Introduction to protest: We, as parents of students at [school name], hereby wish to express our strong concern and protest against the school's participation in the celebration of pride. This applies to both the hoisting of the pride flag and the use of associated symbols during school hours and on school grounds. We demand that our rights as parents be safeguarded, that pride celebrations and related measures cease, and in this letter we would like to elaborate on the rights that both we as parents and our children as students at the school have.
Objective description of pride: Pride is political, owned by a political interest group with stated goals of radical changes in attitudes and laws. The images below are excerpts from Foreningen Fri (main organizer of Pride in Norway) and Oslo Pride, which document that the goal of pride is “to change people's attitudes” and “influence society at large”". Pride is therefore, by definition, a political marking – which also means that statutory provisions must be applied. For the same reason, the Storting does not raise the pride flag, as pride is considered a political symbol. Why then should pride be celebrated at our school? More documentation about what pride is and what the movement's goals are can be found here.
In our opinion, pride at school violates several provisions of the Education Act, provisions that are intended to ensure an inclusive learning environment for all students – regardless of political stance, faith or outlook on life. We experience that our children's rights are not being safeguarded, and therefore request a legally justified answer on how the principal will ensure that these rights are respected. See part 3 for our demands.
ATTENTION! We would like to point out that neither the principal's personal opinion on pride, any municipal council decisions on pride, nor Udir's Director Morten Rosenkvist's reader contribution that pride belongs in schools can set aside the legal provisions that give us rights. It is our rights that you are obligated to protect when the school itself initiates the celebration of pride.
Education Act § 12-2, §12-3 and § 12-4
According to the Education Act Section 12-2, all students have the right to a school environment that promotes health, safety,inclusionandwell-being. For many children – especially those from Christian, conservative or traditional backgrounds – pride flagging and associated celebrations are experienced as ideological pressure, and as an invasion of their own identity and beliefs. This can create dissatisfaction, exclusion and a feeling of not being respected, but rather being run over.
The school must work against any form of bullying,discriminationand violation pursuant to the Education Act §12-3. Pride celebrations have strong political and ideological undertones and slogans – and are experienced as uncomfortable for students who do not share this view. The school shall not promote one value standpoint over others in matters concerning identity and outlook on life, with the exception of the Christian and humanistic value basis, cf. the general part and the Education Act §1-3. We, together with many Christian parents, therefore believe that pride celebrations in schools violate Christian values, and that compulsory participation entails a violation of several legal provisions.
The school has a duty to intervene when a student is not feeling “safe and well”, cf. the Education Act § 12-4 – even when this is due to value influences and activities that are perceived as offensive, offensive, exclusionary or discriminatory. For our children, pride celebrations create an outsider and discomfort. This alone is enough to activate demands for action. A minimum measure would be to offer an alternative program for our children, but the most appropriate and inclusive measure is to refrain from celebrating pride at school.
(Education Act Section 27-1)
Section 27-1prohibits messages that may create commercial pressure or influence attitudes and values at school, during school hours and in the classroom.
Pride is closely linked to political activism, organizations and campaigns with clear attitude-forming messages, see figures 1 and 2 above, pride itself is described as “influence work” and a work for “attitude change”. This is the organizers’ own stated mission, also from Oslo Pride. When such political influence work is taken into the school area, the limit of what the school has a mandate to promote is exceeded. It is not the school’s task to shape the students’ attitudes on such issues through the use of symbols or campaign-oriented activities.
At the same time, we remind you that children are not the property of the state, but primarily the responsibility and care of parents. It is our right to transmit our own values and beliefs to our children. This right is clearly anchored in both Norwegian and international legislation, and we expect the school to comply with the laws that give us as parents rights in the school.
Parents have the right and duty to make decisions in the child's personal affairs, and must ensure proper upbringing and education adapted to the child's needs and beliefs. When the school overrides or undermines family values, and at the same time rejects parents who protest against pride, this constitutes a violation of parental rights.
The training should take place in cooperation and understanding with the home, and it should showrespect for the individual's convictions. This means that children should not be forced to adopt political or ideological symbols that conflict with the family's outlook on life, as pride symbolism does.
Education should take into account the needs of each child and promote respect forthe rule of law and human rights. This requires safeguarding the rights of parents – including conservative and Christian parents, as specified in Article 2 of the ECHR.
“Functions the state assumes in education and teaching (school owner, principal and teachers) shall be exercised with respect for the right of parents to ensure such education and teaching in accordance with their own religious and philosophical convictions”
The state therefore does not have the right to override parents' faith-based or philosophical beliefs in schools. When schools introduce ideological or political influence with pride marking and associated symbolic use, without the parents' consent, it constitutes a violation of fundamental human rights.
We would like written feedback on how the school is addressing these legal obligations.
With kind regards,
[Name of parent(s)]
[Contact information]
[Student's name and class]
