American parents have long assumed that public schools would teach the same values to their children that they had learned growing up. Unfortunately, that’s no longer the case, writes Karol Markowicz.

She began by referencing the recent Wall St. Journal poll which showed that traditional values of patriotism, religion, having children, and community involvement are on the wane.

Markowicz writes:

What happened to us? How did the idea of loving your country, placing importance in worship, growing a family, and helping your community become things we feel “meh” about? ….

If you don’t fill in what matters, and teach your children what your family’s priorities are, don’t be surprised to discover that someone else has.

Stop expecting someone else to teach your children values.

We’ve surrendered the teaching of values to schools and organizations we’ve trusted.

And if you don’t teach them at home, don’t be shocked when they tell you that they’re inherently racist simply because they’re white. Or that they’re helpless victims if they’re members of a minority group. Don’t be surprised if teachers have told them that the United States was founded merely to promote slavery, as in the New York Times “1619 Project” — even though historians have debunked it.

Nor should it surprise parents if their high school student comes home with an assignment to describe their sexual fantasy, as this Oregon father discovered.

A parent DESTROYS @4Jschools board after a teacher gave students an assignment which asked them to describe their sexual fantasies in detailpic.twitter.com/WhHAyfjutO

— Libs of TikTok (@libsoftiktok) March 31, 2023

There may be a tendency for parents, especially if they live in the Midwest as I do, to assume that this is the kind of stuff that happens on the “Left Coast.” It can’t happen here, they think.

But it does. Moms and dads here in Kansas have found sexual and critical race concepts within their children’s curriculum. As a result many of them are running for local school boards. Some are also running for the KS Board of Education or the legislature. And many are winning, too.

Parents Should Be Promoting Faith

There’s no magic potion to give your child moral values. Nor can anyone wrap them in a blanket of invincibility to protect them from perversion.

But it can start at home, especially when parents demonstrate their religious faith early.

A recent Pew poll revealed that only a third of parents said it was important to instruct children in their faith. Not only does religion teach moral values, but a 2019 Pew poll also found that religious people are more civically involved, too.

My husband and I sent our children to parochial elementary and high school from the late 1980’s into the 90’s. I had attended a parochial school as a child, and I wanted my kids to have the same experience.

My mother-in-law, however, was not so keen. It was not that she was anti-religious — far from it, she was an extremely devout Christian. But she thought it would be a waste of money. “Our kids went to public school, and they turned out fine,” she told us. And she was right — for back then.

We sent our children anyway. Our oldest daughter married a boy she met in her Catholic high school. They married after they graduated from their respective colleges: she from a small school in Iowa, and he from the US Naval Academy. They have two children, and both of them attend a parochial school — because their mom and dad also saw the value of religion.

Teach Them Love of Country Too

Here’s Markowicz on what progressive elites are telling children:

Loving your country is bad, they tell us; patriotism is dangerous: This is a standard opinion now among our country elites, who enjoy spending Thanksgiving and Independence Day reminding us of our great country’s flaws.

Markowicz loves America  — perhaps because she’s a Jewish woman who was born in the former USSR. And if you’ve ever known anyone who has come to the US from an oppressive state, you know that they often love this country with greater fervor than American-born citizens.

My maternal grandparents loved America. They were ethnic Germans who grew up in czarist Lithuania and immigrated to Chicago as young adults. My mother recalled that prior to World War II, a friend of my grandfather invited him to join the German-American Bund. But he refused. “I’m an American,” he said. Indeed he was, having become a citizen in 1927.

And our grandchildren? They have learned respect for the United States.

During the NFL conference championship between the Kansas City Chiefs and the Cincinnati Bengals, our grandson and his friend watched the game on TV. When the National Anthem was played, they both saluted the flag. So did our granddaughter, who did her best to mimic her big brother.

Personal image/faces obscured for privacy.

Perhaps our grandson learned to salute at school. But probably not. Our son-in-law is a Navy commander, and he teaches his children to respect America and her flag.

Meanwhile, Markowicz admonishes American parents:

You can’t raise a generation of children in a brand new way, without the values that have grounded so many people who came before them, and feel optimistic about the future ….

To save American society, parents have to be braver in telling their kids what they believe.

Who are children’s first and most important teachers? Not those in the classroom. It’s their moms and dads. And kids learn best from their parents.

Featured image: Photo, cropped, by frank mckenna on Unsplash