Totally agree! We homeschooled our kids and many said we were just sheltering them. I feel we were keeping them close during formative and influential years. They still participated in dance and sports and other extracurricular activities with friends from all types of schools, but they were with us more than not in the day to day. Both are now in a large public university (UF) and thriving. My oldest is heading to Cambridge in the Fall on full scholarship for her PhD in chemistry. Both kids are rooted in their faith in secular schools and our family has remained close. We are friends. I am a fan of the “miniature world” during those crazy pre-teen/teen years.
Thank you for this thoughtful post. From my perspective as a biological psychologist, former stay-at-home dad who raised three, and lifelong educator, I agree with you. Further, my sense is that there are many more people who agree with you than disagree with you. Thank you again. Sincerely, Frederick
Christopher: I am a parent from your previous generation, here with a warning for you. Back in the 1990s my kids were in elementary school. We realized that some sort of pedagogical insanity had gripped the public schools, and that 1) children weren't reasonably being taught how to read 2) they weren't being taught much of anything else, either. I joined the first online group of parents nationwide seeking to revert the public schools to some sort of rational reading-instruction ideology. I personally spent seven years in that group, writing articles and lobbying for change. I came to realize that the schools had been ideologically insane since well before I was born, that two generations of parents had exhausted themselves trying to fix the schools, and that all of them had failed. We too failed.
Fortunately, at the start of my efforts (in 1994), I realized that no fix was coming soon, so we pulled our daughters from public school and home schooled them. It was possibly the best decision of our lives. And the best decision of your life will be to GET YOUR KIDS OUT. GET THEM OUT TODAY, BEFORE IT'S TOO LATE. In my era, the worst that'd happen in a public school is that your child would emerge illiterate, innumerate, and ignorant. Today your child has a good chance of emerging "trans", facing a lifetime hobbled with chemical and surgical disfigurement, possibly not having been in your custody for years.
A few years ago I decided to continue the literacy fight by producing a web site describing the whole nightmare and disclosing a simple solution whereby parents might teach their own kids to read. I created an in-person presentation that I expected to present to local community groups. I actively promoted my effort and actually ended up speaking to just one local group (the Rotary, I believe). Whenever I promote this or present this, the presentation ends with a polite sort of response and no referrals. It's definitely something people don't want to hear.
I am writing to warn you that you and all the parents of your generation that you are not going to fix the public schools. There is no cavalry coming to the rescue. There is no Lone Ranger. You are not going to wake your sleeping neighbors. Your school board's only function is to silence you. Nobody but this small cadre online is going to agree with you.
The popular belief in the greatness of the public (i.e. government) schools is every bit as pervasive and perverse as the ideology within the schools. There is no shaking people from it. There is only one direction for the public schools: deeper and deeper insanity. Our foreign enemies and our own ideological lunatics know where the kids are, and they know that our kids are our future. They are 100% dedicated in a way that no normal person is. You have only one option: GET YOUR KIDS OUT. If you're interested in my reading-instruction saga, here's my site: http://mychildwillread.org/
You’re hitting all the right points, to my utter disbelief, because it’s so hard for the average person to stay focused when fighting hyper-aggressive emotionalists who spew word salad while mounting personal attacks and threatening your physical safety, including threats against loved ones.
However, it’s not enough to destroy the revolutionaries. We need to rebuild a resilient society to resist the onslaught of revolutionaries and pass on those ideas to the next generation. Interestingly, the revolutionaries have done much work in identifying those ideas that contribute to freedom and flourishing.
If you wish to raise children with traditional moral and American values, you must be a pro active parent and seriously consider all available options other than public education even and especially it means personal sacrifices and building a community with like minded families
"And these words which I command you today shall be in your heart. You shall teach them diligently to your children, and shall talk of them when you sit in your house, when you walk by the way, when you lie down, and when you rise up. You shall bind them as a sign on your hand, and they shall be as frontlets between your eyes. You shall write them on the doorposts of your house and on your gates."
I have noticed that in many communities where the schools have gone off the deep end, parents with school-age children are not in the majority. Progressive elites are more likely to be childless, or when they do procreate tend to be mess-ups as parents who are willing to sacrifice their children at the altar of Moloch. But they vote for the school boards which explains the many neo-Stalinist harridans who so often end up there.
In 2018 my husband and I moved our family to Someplace MN. We chose this place for the great public schools. In 2022 we pulled our kids from the public schools to send them to a private Christian school. We are not a religious family. But the main values of the Christian school are what we agree with. We have met several families who are there for the same reasons we are. We are fortunate that we can afford this choice although not our plan and not sure what college will look for our children since we are spending those savings now.
I am a public educator and always imagined my children attend public schools. They would be fine. But the schools are strong with their indoctrination. I cannot speak out at my own school. I will be pushed out, lose my job, lose my retirement I have been building, even in a strong union state. The schools are pervasive with their ideological agenda- principals (not all, but they cannot speak out, they will be pushed out, retire early), counselors, individual teachers (especially the ones without children), curriculum directors, the DEI really-doing-nothing employees and the district superintendents. I have found a tribe of individual teachers here and there who know this is wrong, and we are growing our circle as we find more like minded educators. But it's hard and we have to be careful. We stand strong in saying no to many things- using pronouns, reading certain required books, let agendas focus on race and dei based initiatives but the phrasing has to be so careful. I really just want to teach students how to read, do math, write well and be curious. The values are parents' (in my school we have to use the term caregiver) job not the schools.
Thank you again for an inspiring post. I too live in a small town by choice. However, as you point out it is not without the problems associated to big cities. A local town councilor who I have learned is pro LGBTQ, is proposing that all town employees and union members be trained in DEI at tax payers expense, with the hiring of a trainer or trainers. Thanks to the education provided in your book and a collection of other eminently qualified individuals, such as Thomas Sowell, Douglas Murray, Heather MacDonald, Jordan Peterson and Ben Shapiro I wrote to the Town council in opposition against the proposal. I have shared same with a local Citizens Oversight Accountability group and a local firefighter to share with his Co workers. I have pledged to continue to oppose and expose this Marxist inspired indoctrination proposal.
Kudos to Chris for the clarity of his vision and the courage of his actions, the two must be weaven together organically in day to day life to be alive as an individual and community. Lots to do and platforms are much needed to share and grow best practices.
Your courage and clarity, Christopher, are evident in this post as in all your writing. This really hits home, and writing about it as you do will undoubtedly encourage other parents to fight back against the vicious lynch mob that has taken over education at all levels in the U.S. Perhaps there is simply too much education (or what masquerades as such). Consider, if you will, not merely eliminating DEI, quotas, racialist doctrines, etc., but also printing unnecessary years of imprisonment in a clearly dysfunctional system.
A father’s role is flexible. His priorities change depending on the circumstances. He can serve as a warrior, protector, provider, thought leader, visionary, teacher, moral guide, coach, peacemaker, caretaker, researcher etc. A mother’s role should complement his strengths, and vice versa. Understanding comparative advantage is not necessary, but it can help; we are all wired to survive and flourish. We should be vigilant in reminding our opponents of their wrongs. We demand respect for ourselves and our rights: life, liberty and property.
Everyone would agree that children need good schooling. But it does not necessarily follow that public schools are axiomatically the places where it should primarily take place..... In the information-explosion, digital age, anyone who wants to educate themselves can do so. Pre-internet this would have been much harder. And could more parents working-from-home result in more homeschooling, aided by a growth of support networks like this, this and this? https://grahamcunningham.substack.com/p/teach-your-children-well
Totally agree! We homeschooled our kids and many said we were just sheltering them. I feel we were keeping them close during formative and influential years. They still participated in dance and sports and other extracurricular activities with friends from all types of schools, but they were with us more than not in the day to day. Both are now in a large public university (UF) and thriving. My oldest is heading to Cambridge in the Fall on full scholarship for her PhD in chemistry. Both kids are rooted in their faith in secular schools and our family has remained close. We are friends. I am a fan of the “miniature world” during those crazy pre-teen/teen years.
Thank you for this thoughtful post. From my perspective as a biological psychologist, former stay-at-home dad who raised three, and lifelong educator, I agree with you. Further, my sense is that there are many more people who agree with you than disagree with you. Thank you again. Sincerely, Frederick
Christopher: I am a parent from your previous generation, here with a warning for you. Back in the 1990s my kids were in elementary school. We realized that some sort of pedagogical insanity had gripped the public schools, and that 1) children weren't reasonably being taught how to read 2) they weren't being taught much of anything else, either. I joined the first online group of parents nationwide seeking to revert the public schools to some sort of rational reading-instruction ideology. I personally spent seven years in that group, writing articles and lobbying for change. I came to realize that the schools had been ideologically insane since well before I was born, that two generations of parents had exhausted themselves trying to fix the schools, and that all of them had failed. We too failed.
Fortunately, at the start of my efforts (in 1994), I realized that no fix was coming soon, so we pulled our daughters from public school and home schooled them. It was possibly the best decision of our lives. And the best decision of your life will be to GET YOUR KIDS OUT. GET THEM OUT TODAY, BEFORE IT'S TOO LATE. In my era, the worst that'd happen in a public school is that your child would emerge illiterate, innumerate, and ignorant. Today your child has a good chance of emerging "trans", facing a lifetime hobbled with chemical and surgical disfigurement, possibly not having been in your custody for years.
A few years ago I decided to continue the literacy fight by producing a web site describing the whole nightmare and disclosing a simple solution whereby parents might teach their own kids to read. I created an in-person presentation that I expected to present to local community groups. I actively promoted my effort and actually ended up speaking to just one local group (the Rotary, I believe). Whenever I promote this or present this, the presentation ends with a polite sort of response and no referrals. It's definitely something people don't want to hear.
I am writing to warn you that you and all the parents of your generation that you are not going to fix the public schools. There is no cavalry coming to the rescue. There is no Lone Ranger. You are not going to wake your sleeping neighbors. Your school board's only function is to silence you. Nobody but this small cadre online is going to agree with you.
The popular belief in the greatness of the public (i.e. government) schools is every bit as pervasive and perverse as the ideology within the schools. There is no shaking people from it. There is only one direction for the public schools: deeper and deeper insanity. Our foreign enemies and our own ideological lunatics know where the kids are, and they know that our kids are our future. They are 100% dedicated in a way that no normal person is. You have only one option: GET YOUR KIDS OUT. If you're interested in my reading-instruction saga, here's my site: http://mychildwillread.org/
“We should plan campaigns—but also dig trenches.” Amen. Protect your family.
You’re hitting all the right points, to my utter disbelief, because it’s so hard for the average person to stay focused when fighting hyper-aggressive emotionalists who spew word salad while mounting personal attacks and threatening your physical safety, including threats against loved ones.
However, it’s not enough to destroy the revolutionaries. We need to rebuild a resilient society to resist the onslaught of revolutionaries and pass on those ideas to the next generation. Interestingly, the revolutionaries have done much work in identifying those ideas that contribute to freedom and flourishing.
As an example, remember this?
https://www.washingtonpost.com/entertainment/museums/african-american-museum-site-removes-whiteness-chart-after-criticism-from-trump-jr-and-conservative-media/2020/07/17/4ef6e6f2-c831-11ea-8ffe-372be8d82298_story.html
If you wish to raise children with traditional moral and American values, you must be a pro active parent and seriously consider all available options other than public education even and especially it means personal sacrifices and building a community with like minded families
"And these words which I command you today shall be in your heart. You shall teach them diligently to your children, and shall talk of them when you sit in your house, when you walk by the way, when you lie down, and when you rise up. You shall bind them as a sign on your hand, and they shall be as frontlets between your eyes. You shall write them on the doorposts of your house and on your gates."
- Deuteronomy 6 : 6 - 9
I have noticed that in many communities where the schools have gone off the deep end, parents with school-age children are not in the majority. Progressive elites are more likely to be childless, or when they do procreate tend to be mess-ups as parents who are willing to sacrifice their children at the altar of Moloch. But they vote for the school boards which explains the many neo-Stalinist harridans who so often end up there.
In 2018 my husband and I moved our family to Someplace MN. We chose this place for the great public schools. In 2022 we pulled our kids from the public schools to send them to a private Christian school. We are not a religious family. But the main values of the Christian school are what we agree with. We have met several families who are there for the same reasons we are. We are fortunate that we can afford this choice although not our plan and not sure what college will look for our children since we are spending those savings now.
I am a public educator and always imagined my children attend public schools. They would be fine. But the schools are strong with their indoctrination. I cannot speak out at my own school. I will be pushed out, lose my job, lose my retirement I have been building, even in a strong union state. The schools are pervasive with their ideological agenda- principals (not all, but they cannot speak out, they will be pushed out, retire early), counselors, individual teachers (especially the ones without children), curriculum directors, the DEI really-doing-nothing employees and the district superintendents. I have found a tribe of individual teachers here and there who know this is wrong, and we are growing our circle as we find more like minded educators. But it's hard and we have to be careful. We stand strong in saying no to many things- using pronouns, reading certain required books, let agendas focus on race and dei based initiatives but the phrasing has to be so careful. I really just want to teach students how to read, do math, write well and be curious. The values are parents' (in my school we have to use the term caregiver) job not the schools.
Thank you again for an inspiring post. I too live in a small town by choice. However, as you point out it is not without the problems associated to big cities. A local town councilor who I have learned is pro LGBTQ, is proposing that all town employees and union members be trained in DEI at tax payers expense, with the hiring of a trainer or trainers. Thanks to the education provided in your book and a collection of other eminently qualified individuals, such as Thomas Sowell, Douglas Murray, Heather MacDonald, Jordan Peterson and Ben Shapiro I wrote to the Town council in opposition against the proposal. I have shared same with a local Citizens Oversight Accountability group and a local firefighter to share with his Co workers. I have pledged to continue to oppose and expose this Marxist inspired indoctrination proposal.
Kudos to Chris for the clarity of his vision and the courage of his actions, the two must be weaven together organically in day to day life to be alive as an individual and community. Lots to do and platforms are much needed to share and grow best practices.
Lucid, sensible and, for these reasons, regrettably rare. Keep going Chris!
Your courage and clarity, Christopher, are evident in this post as in all your writing. This really hits home, and writing about it as you do will undoubtedly encourage other parents to fight back against the vicious lynch mob that has taken over education at all levels in the U.S. Perhaps there is simply too much education (or what masquerades as such). Consider, if you will, not merely eliminating DEI, quotas, racialist doctrines, etc., but also printing unnecessary years of imprisonment in a clearly dysfunctional system.
A father’s role is flexible. His priorities change depending on the circumstances. He can serve as a warrior, protector, provider, thought leader, visionary, teacher, moral guide, coach, peacemaker, caretaker, researcher etc. A mother’s role should complement his strengths, and vice versa. Understanding comparative advantage is not necessary, but it can help; we are all wired to survive and flourish. We should be vigilant in reminding our opponents of their wrongs. We demand respect for ourselves and our rights: life, liberty and property.
Treat it like the cult that it is.
Everyone would agree that children need good schooling. But it does not necessarily follow that public schools are axiomatically the places where it should primarily take place..... In the information-explosion, digital age, anyone who wants to educate themselves can do so. Pre-internet this would have been much harder. And could more parents working-from-home result in more homeschooling, aided by a growth of support networks like this, this and this? https://grahamcunningham.substack.com/p/teach-your-children-well