What are parental rights? Are they a legal stance—or a philosophical one?

In today’s conversation, Dr. Melissa Moschella of the University of Notre Dame discusses the profound and practical implications of the parent-child relationship. She then explores how those conclusions operate in the American legal tradition, tracing from natural law to John Locke to historic court cases and the public discourse today.

3:46 True rights imply true duties

10:04 Natural law: knowable through reason

15:00 The rights and duties of parents

22:32 Role of the state in the American tradition

28:44 Twentieth-century shift, John Rawls

37:29 Whether schools can be value-neutral

43:34 Parental rights in American courts

46:47 Beyond religious liberty

55:00 School choice as parental choice

1:00:57 Public discourse: how to talk to friends, family, neighbors

1:05:30 Her book on natural law

Melissa Moschella, Ph.D., McGrath Institute for Church Life at Notre Dame

To Whom Do Children Belong? Parental Rights, Civic Education, and Children’s Autonomy by Melissa Moschella

Ethics, Politics, and Natural Law: Principles for Human Flourishing by Melissa Moschella

Democratic Education by Amy Guttman (argued against by Dr. Moschella)

Brief of Amica Curiae in Support of Petitioners by Melissa Moschella

“Nonreligious Parents Have Rights Too,” WSJ op-ed by Melissa Moschella

The Mortara Case: Parental Authority and Thomas Aquinas featuring Dr. Matthew Tapie and Dr. Lionel Yaceczko

Parents as Primary Educators by Michael Moynihan

Fathers’ Conference at The Heights School (November 1, 2025)

The Art of Teaching Boys Conference at The Heights School (January 7-9, 2026 / May 6-8, 2026)

There should be no contradiction in pursuing hard sciences, humanities, and moral virtue all in one day.

For upper schoolers switching classrooms every hour, or for teachers siloed in a single subject, it can be easy to mistake “education” for a series of distinct academic categories. In this rebroadcast from 2015, Upper School Head Michael Moynihan gives us a better framework. He urges us to look at how our school’s different departments present a unified and infinitively connective worldview—one that invites inquisitive engagement and exercises the full scope of human reason.

4:39 The strength of “entertainment culture”

8:16 Successful families

9:28 Assessing the educational landscape

11:32 Fragmented school subjects

14:20 Teaching persons, not subjects

17:18 Appreciating the full scope of human reason

Orthodoxy by G. K. Chesterton (see chapter 8, “The Romance of Orthodoxy”)

By the Communion of Persons Man Becomes the Image of God by Pope St. John Paul II

The Lost Tools of Learning by Dorothy Sayers

The Idea of a University by St. John Henry Newman

Regensburg Address by Pope Benedict XVI

Laudato Si by Pope Francis

The Art of Teaching Sovereign Knowers by Michael Moynihan

Fall Open House at The Heights School (October 18, 2025)

Fathers’ Conference at The Heights School (November 1, 2025)

Convivium for Teaching Men at The Heights School (November 13-15, 2025)

“Be perfect” (Matt. 5:48) and “anxious for nothing” (Phil 4:6).

This tall order from the New Testament may put modern parents into a cold sweat. Parental perfectionism and anxiety are surely on the rise, but in his annual Headmaster’s Lecture at The Heights School, Alvaro de Vicente talks us down. He shows us the compatibility and wisdom of these two Biblical encouragements by refocusing on the process of growth—moral, academic, athletic, and spiritual—over simply the apparent results.

2:41 Introduction: being “good enough”

8:15 A new way to see perfection

10:07 Context changes our expectations

17:34 Setting reasonable expectations

24:46 Acknowledging our son’s freedom

29:28 Parental anxiety: danger ÷ opportunity

36:54 Surrounded by goodness, a twitch upon the thread

40:53 Perseverance through hard times

47:42 Addressing real problems

53:15 Ultimately, in God’s hands

Men in the Making, Alvaro de Vicente’s Substack

Loss of the Creature by Walker Percy

Gilead by Marilynne Robinson

Minority Report (2002)

The Innocence of Father Brown by G. K. Chesterton

Peace Like a River by Leif Enger

Failure Is a Great Tutor—Don’t Fire Him by Alvaro de Vicente

Having Better Mentoring Conversations by Alvaro de Vicente

Fall Open House at The Heights School (October 18, 2025)

Fathers’ Conference at The Heights School (November 1, 2025)

Convivium for Teaching Men at The Heights School (November 13-15, 2025)