Government Undermines Parents

The Scottish National Party recently released guidelines telling teachers, police, and social workers to respect the privacy of children as young as age 13 by not informing parents when their children are having sex (Telegraph, February 20, 2022). The rationale behind the guidelines is the issue of confidentiality. According to the government, “Overriding confidentiality must be justified and proportionate, taking into account the nature and probability of risk to the young person and/or others.” This means, if adults feel a child’s sexual activity is not “overly risky,” then parents should not be informed. However, the age of consent in Scotland is 16, so, in effect, the government is actually encouraging adults to “keep quiet” about behaviors that are clearly against the law.

Calling the new national guidelines “morally bankrupt,” the Scottish Catholic Church told the press, “Believing children are equipped to make moral judgments about how they behave sexually fundamentally undermines child protection.” In Scotland, children under age 16 must have parental consent to apply for a free bus pass, but not to engage in activity that will impact the rest of their lives in a very negative way. According to Scotland’s government, the wishes and feelings of children, who lack the wisdom and experience to make major, life-altering decisions, override the right of their parents to know when their sons and daughters are engaging in high-risk behaviors.

Today, national and local leaders increasingly ignore the wisdom of biblical traditions (Proverbs 22:28), and they continue to erode the rights of parents to make decisions for their own families (v. 6). Many are rightfully concerned that such trends are moving society toward the legalization of sex with children—pedophilia. Watching the decline of Western civilization is sobering and shocking, but it should not be a surprise to students of the Bible. Prophecies reveal that, as the end of the age approaches, society will become increasingly immoral—calling evil good, and good evil (Isaiah 5:20). To learn more about the state of society just before Christ returns, be sure to read “Amorality: Will the Carnage Ever Cease?”