Sadly, Governor Ayotte vetoed some important Bills including HB446. HB446 would have required parental consent when their child is given the CDC’s Youth Risk Behavior Survey in school.
New Hampshire already has a law that requires parental consent when their children take a non-academic survey in school. There is ONE exception, and that is the CDC’s Youth Risk Behavior Survey. For your child to take that survey, the school is only required to notify you that the survey will be given.
That means parents have to actually receive the notice from the school, but that does not always happen.
Parents in a school in Massachusetts where furious when they realized their children had taken the YRBS in school:
“Risk behavior” survey at Massachusetts schools asked students graphic sex questions, some parents outraged
“Parents in Burlington, Massachusetts are outraged after children as young as seventh grade were asked graphic questions about sex in a behavioral risk survey.
It was standing room only inside the Burlington School Committee meeting Tuesday night, where angry parents demanded consequences after they say they were blindsided and betrayed by their school.
“I am trusting you with the two most precious things I have,” one parent said. “It is criminal for you to corrupt them.”
In order to avoid this abuse of parental rights, HB446 was introduced this year. HB446 was supported by the majority of Republicans in the House and Senate, but was vetoed by Governor Ayotte. Why would she be ok with “corrupting children?”
Organizations around New Hampshire rely on the results from the YRBS in order to bring programs into the schools. They receive grant money in order to address issues like sex, drug abuse, and other societal issues children face. Are these programs even effective? Oftentimes no one really knows. Some people have argued that bringing up these issues to children can have the opposite impact on them.
There is a threshold of participation that must be met in order for these organizations to receive their funding $$$$$. If enough parents refuse the survey for their children, these organizations may not receive their grant money $$$$$. In other words, if parents are kept in the dark about the survey, they will get more students to participate.
ALL students will take the YRBS unless their parent is aware of the survey, and sends in a form refusing it for their child. Many parents have complained that they never received the notification, and that their children were told this was a mandatory survey. The cards are stacked against parents.
In addition, the American Psychological Association requires informed consent from parents when a licensed Psychologist assesses a child.
Ethical Principles of Psychologists and Code of Conduct
9.03 Informed Consent in Assessments
(a) Psychologists obtain informed consent for assessments, evaluations, or diagnostic services, as described in Standard 3.10
Why is this not the norm in our public schools?
One of the “Housewives” featured on a reality TV show mentioned her struggle with an eating disorder that she learned about in school. This is why parents need to be the decision makers when it comes to surveys or whether they want their children participating in these kinds of programs. There may have been other contributing factors to her bulimia, but one Bedford parent complained that the 7th grade students learned how to “sniff glue to get high,” by taking a survey like this. This survey may be contributing to these societal problems for some students.
That’s why it was disappointing to hear that Governor Ayotte chose to protect the money vs the children.
Not all children will react the way the housewife reacted, but if a parent knows that their child can be influenced, they may decide to forgo the survey. With all of the graphic questions on sex, parents may want to delay or refuse the survey for their children. When parents say that the survey can corrupt their children, that’s a pretty serious charge. Governor Ayotte ran her campaign championing parental rights, but when she had a chance to stand up for parents, she failed them.
Read more here: https://granitegrok.com/new-england/nh/2025/07/macdonald-breaking-ayotte-signs-bill-banning-school-mask-mandates-vetoes-several-other-good-bills
