Parents should be furious that Alabama’s parental rights law is being ignored

When Alabama passed legislation to raise the age of medical majority from 14 to 16, it marked a turning point for families across the state. Parents were given clear legal authority over whether their children could receive mental health services in schools. The law required written, affirmative consent – opt-in – for any school-based mental health service or instructional content involving sensitive topics including discussions around bullying or suicide.

These restrictions matter – because radical ideologies about “tolerance and acceptance” creep into our schools through mental health education, regardless of whether parents are notified. The opt-in process isn’t just a procedural safeguard – it’s the legal mechanism that affirms a parent’s right to decide whether their children are exposed to such loosely defined and ideologically loaded material in the first place.

Revised opt-in forms have now rolled out, and I’ve reviewed versions from multiple school districts across several counties. The pattern is deeply concerning: every single one includes a footnote that bypasses the law by allowing children to participate in so-called “general counseling” without parental approval. One line in particular stands out: “Instruction, advisement, and occasional interventions are not subject to opt-in requirements, as these are regular duties of school counselors and other educators.”

Let that sink in. The law says parental consent is required. Yet the Alabama State Department of Education (ALSDE) has issued guidance implying otherwise.

This isn’t a theoretical issue — it’s personal. My son’s entire class is taken to the counselor’s classroom — not the office — every two weeks for a “general counseling” session. I’m not allowed to opt him out. The school insists it’s required by state standards, despite the law clearly stating that no child can receive school-based mental health instruction or services without parental consent. So every two weeks, I must take off work to check my child out of school during this class, then return to check him back in – all so I can protect his rights and mine. We fought to change the law, yet my child is still being forced into unlicensed therapy sessions against my stated non-consent.

Where’s the accountability? What is the state doing to stop agencies from rewriting the law by administrative fiat?

The Alabama Learning Exchange (ALEX) exposes exactly how these sessions are being used. Counseling objectives include statements like “respect alternative points of view,” “recognize, accept, respect and appreciate individual differences,” and “recognize and respect differences in various family configurations.”

These phrases might seem harmless at first glance – but they are deliberately vague. They create wide-open pathways for subjective ideology to enter the classroom, from gender theory to radical DEI frameworks, all under the guise of social-emotional learning.

This is how ideology slips through the back door. It’s framed as support. It’s marketed as kindness. But it’s implemented through unlicensed behavioral programming in the hands of government employees – not trained clinicians, and not in partnership with parents.

It’s not just Alabama. If we don’t push back now, we’re headed down the same path as Tennessee, where mental health clinicians are being embedded inside every public school building. Mississippi is already rolling out a digital “youth mental wellness platform” statewide. These are not isolated efforts – they’re part of a national movement to embed mental health services inside public schools, bypassing parental judgment and legislative oversight.

Alabama parents need to wake up. We were promised opt-in protections – not workarounds, not footnotes, not policy tricks. And certainly not a counseling model that embeds ideology under the cover of state standards.

The law is on our side. It’s time to demand enforcement. ALSDE doesn’t get to redefine parental rights – especially not by circumventing the very law that was passed to protect them.

If we don’t stop this now, we’re not just failing our children — we’re surrendering them to a system that believes it knows better than their parents.

Emily Jones is a native of North Alabama and the content contributor of The Controversial Mom podcast on Right Side Radio. She is the founder of the first Moms for Liberty chapter in the state seeking to fight for the preservation of parental rights and the protection of our children. She is currently running for the State Board of Education in District 8.

The views and opinions expressed here are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the policy or position of 1819 News. To comment, please email your name and contact information to [email protected].  

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