Readers who have been paying attention to the news know that parental rights is a hot-button topic these days in battles over education, especially with mandatory programs about sexual morality and marriage.

In some cases, public-school leaders have attempted to keep parents in the dark about what their children were reading and studying (and whether parents have supervision options in these matters). The brave new world in these disputes — see this case in Canada — is when school leaders attempt to hide student gender-change decisions from parents.

A reader recently sent me a story from The Hill that opened up a completely different kind of parental-rights case. Here is the headline: “More than 100 students baptized without parents’ permission at North Carolina school.”

The note that came with that URL pointed to an issue near the end of this news report:

Religion Ghosts? I think so. It would have been nice to know why the parents thought the 2nd baptism would undo the first — what sect of Christianity, how that would actually happen.

Let’s get into this. The key, in this story is that we are dealing with a private school, as opposed to a taxpayer-funded public school.

In other words, (a) parents have chosen to send their children to this school, but (b) it’s still crucial to ask if school leaders have kept in-print promises (if any were made) to parents about the nature of religious programs and even rites (sacraments for many, but not all Christians) that might take place in worship.

Thus, here is the overture, and the word “private” is used early on. (Note that I am using The Hill piece, rather than the local paper, for paywall reasons.)

FAYETTEVILLE, N.C. (WGHP) — A North Carolina school apologized after baptizing more than 100 children without their parent’s permission, according to the Fayetteville Observer.

Northwood Temple Academy, a private Christian school in Fayetteville, posted on Facebook … , “I feel it in my bones, You’re about to move! Today we had over 100 middle and high school students spontaneously declare their faith and get baptized today. We will have more pictures of these powerful moments posted over the next couple of days!”

That morning, three students had their scheduled baptisms at the school as part of Spiritual Emphasis Week. The offer was then extended to other students who had not been scheduled. More than 100 students in total were baptized.

The head of the school, Renee McLamb, sent a letter to parents to explain what happened. It answered a few, but not all, of the relevant cases in this case. The letter included a clear statement of apology.

“The Spirit of the Lord moved and the invitation to accept the Lord and be baptized was given and the students just began to respond to the presence of the Lord,” McLamb said in the letter, which was obtained by the Observer.

The school says it typically notifies and invites parents to be present for any baptisms that happen on campus, and “it was not the intention of any faculty member to do anything behind a parent’s back or in any kind of secret way.”

There are several important facts that needed to be included, so that readers could understand what kinds of issues parents may have raised in this case.

First of all, what kind of school is this and what kinds of students attend?

It would appear that this is (#NoSurprise) a nondenominational evangelical school and that most of its students come from homes linked to evangelical and/or charismatic (even Pentecostal) congregations. However, based on my own experiences — my children both went to private schools — it’s highly likely that this school includes students from homes that are “conservative,” but more “unchurched.” Also, I would expect you would find some conservatives from Catholic and Mainline Protestant churches.

Does this matter? Yes, especially when school leaders start holding “revival” services with altar calls and baptism rites. How often does this happen? All I could find on the school website was this reference to chapels:

Our weekly chapel is an intentional pause in the week to stop, listen, reflect, and respond to the big questions of life. Every chapel seeks to keep a fresh focus on the person of Jesus while presenting the truth of Scripture in meaningful and relevant ways. Teaching, music, film, fine arts, and dialogue are some of the ways students engage during Chapel.

Let’s go back to The Hill report, which really needed to be longer.

McLamb told the paper that the school should have given students a chance to contact parents and ask permission. “We were not expecting such an overwhelming response to the message that was spoken, but as a mother I certainly can empathize with why some parents were upset,” she said.

“Should” have given students to consult with their parents? The question journalists need to ask was this: What promises were made? What was stated in any covenant documents that parents signed when they chose (there’s that word again) to send their children to this private school?

Now, imagine that you are a Catholic parent involved in this situation. The story notes:

Some of the children had already been baptized, and at least one family was concerned that a second baptism could undo the first.

That was the reference that drew the attention of the GetReligion reader who sent us a note about this story. Now do you see why it was important for journalists to ask about the denominational makeup of this school and the religious traditions of some of the families involved?

The bottom line: Would Catholics, United Methodists, Lutherans and others be happy to hear that their children, baptized as infants, had walked the aisle to “rededicate their lives” or even to “get saved” and then followed their friends into the baptismal waters?

Doctrine matters, folks. That’s a key part of this story.

FIRST IMAGE: Illustration for a post about baptism, featured on the website of New Creation Anglican Church in Hagerstown, Maryland.