VIEWS EXPRESSED BY CONTRIBUTORS IN COLUMNS/OPINION EDITORIALS ETC. ARE THEIR OWN AND DO NOT REPRESENT THE VIEWS OR OPINIONS OF CLAYCONEWS
Column by Gerardo Serrano
Jackson County, KY
I'm Gerardo Serrano, a proud Kentuckian who firmly believes in liberty, parental rights, the right to life, and the power of free choice. I've dedicated myself to protecting our freedoms—from defending the Second Amendment to standing against government overreach. I'm speaking out against a new threat, The Kids Online Safety Act (KOSA).
At first glance, KOSA may seem helpful. It's been sold to us as a law to "protect kids." But what it does is hand our children's futures over to Washington bureaucrats. KOSA gives officials the power to decide what's "safe" for children online, pushing parents aside and undermining their rights. This isn't about child safety—it's about taking control away from parents and placing it in the hands of people who don't know our children, our values, or our commitment to the right to life.
Let's not be fooled by the titles of these bills. Remember the Patriot Act? Its name promised to make us more patriotic, but instead, it took away many of our freedoms and led to years of government surveillance. In reality, it did the opposite of what its name suggested. KOSA is no different—it pretends to protect, but at its core, it restricts our rights and opens the door to government interference in our children's lives.
I was deeply disappointed to see Amendment 2 fail here in Kentucky. This measure would have given parents more say over their children's education. But its defeat showed something more troubling: too many of my fellow citizens will let the government decide for them. KOSA is yet another example of the government creeping further into our lives, deciding what's best for our families and, most alarmingly, for our children.
My message is simple: our children's lives should be shaped by their families, not government officials. KOSA endangers this right by giving the government control over what kids can see online, opening the door to censorship and silencing ideas they deem "unacceptable." When officials determine which ideas are "safe," we put at risk our freedom to think, speak, and learn openly—a risk I cannot support.
So I ask my fellow Kentuckians: Do we want a world where the government decides what our children can see, think, and believe? Or do we want a world where parents have the power to raise their children according to their values, with a commitment to the right to life guiding our choices?
I stand for the liberty and rights of every Kentuckian parent to make these choices themselves. I stand for a future where we can raise our children without interference from those who think they know better. Let's stand together and saynoto KOSA and any law threatening our rights as parents and free citizens.
Please let your Congressman know that we won't stand for government overreach. Tell them to vote no on KOSA. Let's keep our rights, freedoms, and right to life where they belong—in our own hands.
Gerardo Serrano is from Jackson County and believes in Kentucky values: family, freedom, the right to life, and the right to choose our path. Serrano: "Let's work together to protect those rights."
