Fields v. Palmdale, Part 1
DISCLAIMER #1:
In my opinion, some of the content that sparked this lawsuit
is not appropriate for children. If you have kids that like to read "over your shoulder" you may want to get them interested in another activity before reading.
"You're going to miss the bus!"
Tammany Fields called up the stairs of their California home that December morning. She could hear as her 7-year-old daughter raced down the hall and watched as she nearly toppled trying to take the steps two at a time. "Silly goose, your little legs need to grow more before you can do that!" Tammany said as she kneeled down to help zip her daughter's jacket. As her daughter headed for the bus, Tammany managed to get in a kiss and stuff that permission slip into her backpack. "Don't forget to give that to your teacher today" she reminded her daughter. "I know Mommy!" was the reply, with a hint of that "I'm a big girl now, remember?" in her daughter's voice. Tammany smiled and called out "Love ya darling!" just as the bus pulled around the corner.
Kathie and Vanessa were already at the park that Saturday when Tammany and her daughter arrived for an afternoon play-date. As the children played, the mothers talked about this and that..."mommy talk." As the conversation drifted to the kids and school, Tammany decided to voice her concern.
"Did you ladies get that permission slip from the school a few weeks ago about the survey they were doing with the kids?" she began. Both Kathie and Vanessa looked like they had seen a ghost at the mere mention of the survey. "I guess your kids told you what happened too." As they began comparing what their young children (who ranged from age 7 to 10) had reported, their emotions went from concerned, to offended, to downright angry.
"I knew something was wrong when my son asked me if he should trust people that want to have sex" Kathie said as a tear rolled down her cheek. "I called the school because I was worried a child predator had been on the playground. I couldn't believe it when they told me he got that from a survey they had taken! When I told her they had no right to talk to my son about things like that she said I gave them written permission! I know I signed something a few weeks ago about that survey, but I can't believe I overlooked them saying they wanted to ask him about sex! Wouldn't I have remembered...?" Kathie let her voice trail off as she began outright sobbing.
As Vanessa sought to comfort Kathie, Tammany blurted out "We should sue. They had no right to ask the kids those kinds of things! My daughter didn't really know what sex was before this, and the school had NO RIGHT to ask her things like that about sex when her father and I haven't even discussed it with her! She knows not to talk to strangers and that kind of thing, but we haven't gone into details; she's only 7!!"
All the ladies agreed they would discuss it with their husbands that evening. As the parents came to realize exactly what had taken place in the school, they all agreed they needed to call an attorney and find out what could be done to stop this from happening again.
Disclaimer #2: I am not an attorney, nothing I say is legal advice, and be aware that I took writers liberty to develop this story. I would encourage you to read the
Fields v. Palmdale decision for yourself.
NOTE: May 19, 2006, the 9th circuit amended the wording of their decision in two places. You can
read about that here.
