Guest Article by Julie Plancarte

It Takes A Village.... To Steal A Child

The other day I brought home the old Disney classic, “Old Yeller” for my kids. We made popcorn and had a great time. About halfway through the movie, as my daughter was watching the frontier family in the film repair their fence, she turned to me in surprise.

“Mom!” she exclaimed, “They cut down a tree! That’s very bad.”

I was startled by her comment, and asked why she thought that. We then talked about why the trees were cut down in the film. I explained to her that trees were the only means to build homes and fences to keep in precious livestock that would feed the family. I think she understood most of what I was saying. However, I could tell she wasn’t 100% convinced.

I had observed comments like this over the last three weeks. Why? Well, it’s simple, really. Earth Day was coming up, and her school was celebrating by having the teachers lecture the kids about the environment, presentations were being made, and the media was getting worked up into a religious fever about Mother Earth.

To top everything off, I flipped open the newspaper and found an editorial written by a fifteen year old. The theme? The environment was in danger and “we”(meaning the stupid older folks) were to blame. It was a condescending essay on how wasteful and foolish the older generation was, and how the planet was in peril and it was up to the younger, brighter, more well-informed generation to save us from ourselves.

I have been thinking about this over the last week quite a bit. How terribly naive we are as parents. We provide basic training for our kids in the family and participate in some activities with them. We may even take them to church and instill some of our beliefs in them. Then we turn our kids over to the schools and other groups or organizations in society who have an impact on kids. We let our kids be influenced by their peers. We trust these third parties to influence our kids in ways that we like or accept and support. We need to ask ourselves, who has the most impact on our kids and in what ways? Who do we think is going to win the war for our children’s minds?

The schools and other groups, the media and Internet, and peer groups work well together. They stress many of the same ideas, priorities, values, and politically correct views. Take the environmental movement. They are moving their doctrine right into your child’s school. This is illustrated by the “Old Yeller” incident with my daughter. Students like her aren’t being taught to view history in an objective way. People in the past had limitations we don’t have today. They had to use trees for lodging, fences and heat. Students today are being taught to judge the past based on the new “informed” view that is being taught to them. Another illustration is global warming, which is accepted as the truth because teachers are taking Al Gore right into the classroom. Other kids are being swept up by the movement and are enthralled by the idea that saving the planet is “solely in their hands”. Adults? Obsolete. Why listen to parents, who are mocked and put down and devalued by just about everyone, when the alternative is so attractive?

How do we as parents handle this? I think the only way to win with our kids is to understand the people who are working hard to indoctrinate and take them from us.

Providing a home, some activities and material possessions isn’t enough. I think the answer lies in four things.

Number one, we need to get informed. We need to really examine our beliefs and draw from a number of sources to strengthen our views. If you’re Christian, you have to validate the Bible by doing more than having faith. You have to research, gain knowledge and really question what role religion plays in human life. You have to understand the counter-arguments the other side is coming up with. Politics? What information can validate your position? The environment? Well, THAT one is easy, as environmentalists are great at messing up data to suit their needs. I guess my main point is this....we need to consider ourselves as salesmen. If we don’t make a convincing argument, we’ll get cast aside by our kids.

Number Two, we need to figure out the best way to present ourselves and make an impact on our kids. We have an advantage that all those outsiders don’t. We were there in the beginning. There’s a wealth of information for taking advantage of this.

Number Three, create a means of communicating. This means examining our parenting style. Are we taking the time to teach and discuss things openly? If not, why?

Number Four, we have to let go. In the end, children are going to go their own way. We can voice our opinion, we can give them the information and hope it sticks, but after that it really is a matter of faith and patience.

My children are still quite young, so I have some time to influence them, but I know that there’s a lot of hardship when you love kids and they are gradually pulled away from you. From my viewpoint, I don’t want to be passive about this.

I don’t want to turn the other cheek. There’s a whole world out there, and they play dirty. They do everything they can to drive that wedge in. It’s a real battle, and I don’t intend to play dead. I am going to arm myself with knowledge and fight hard. I would encourage every parent to do the same. When it comes to our kids, we can’t afford to stand by and “let things happen”. We can and must be more aggressive. When the “whole village” is meddling and influencing your children, you have to be tough.

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Copyright  2008     Leland Pulley