The backpacks are full, the lunches are packed, and moms and dads everywhere are breathing a sigh of relief that life is returning to back-to-school normal. But the beginning of classes isn’t just about getting kids ready for a new year, it’s about making sure parents are equally prepared to take on the challenges that today’s education throws at them.
Families have plenty to tackle this fall, Nicole Neily, president and founder of Defending Education, and Victoria Cobb, president of The Family Foundation, pointed out on “Washington Watch” and the “Outstanding” podcast. And one of the biggest mistakes they can make is thinking their children are safe if they’re in red states or private schools. The reality, these two warn, is that the landmines of liberalism are everywhere. So what words of advice do they have for parents navigating the woke world of education?
1. Be vigilant.
Thanks to COVID, moms and dads are more aware of what’s happening behind classroom doors than they’ve ever been. They know where and when their school boards meet, how to make public comments, and what kind of pressure to apply on districts that have overplayed their hands on graphic sex education, gender identity, critical theory, and bathroom, locker room, and sports policies. And while parents are in a much better position than they were before the pandemic, “The battle is real and needs to be engaged on the regular,” Cobb warns. “Constant vigilance is required no matter what state you’re in, no matter what you think the law is. There’s just so much local [and individual] control” in the classroom and schools.
“It’s kind of like when you go to the airport,” she explains. “See something, say something. You know, keep an eye out.” On the transgender front in particular, Neily emphasizes, “Parents have no idea that these policies are in place,” whether that’s bathrooms and locker rooms that are open to both sexes or, as families have been shocked to discover, “for overnight field trips, which is also something that’s deeply terrifying.”
In a lot of cases, “[parents] only find out that their children have been put into a questionable situation after the fact, because schools hide behind student privacy [rules] to not give parents complete information for them to make their own decisions about their own child. And this raises all kinds of problems that, fortunately, [Secretary of Education Linda] McMahon has started to take on.”
Both women’s strong encouragement is for moms and dads to do their research. “The price of liberty is eternal vigilance. It is deeply important for parents to know and ask questions so that they have absolute clarity on these things, so that they are able to say, ‘You know what? I’m not comfortable with my kid going on that field trip. I’m not comfortable with my daughter playing that sport.’ Maybe they’ll do something outside of the school just so that they are able to protect their child, because unfortunately, school administrators do not have our children’s best interest at heart.”
2. Be engaged.
One of the worst things a parent can do is assume their son or daughter is protected from this indoctrination because they’re in a “conservative” town or district.
“I think people can sometimes be lulled into a sense of safety when they live in a more rural area or a red state,” Cobb cautioned. “And I think people need to be very aware that that is a false sense of security in many cases because,” when it comes to LGBT extremism, “the reality is there are gender-confused children in all places, and there are schools that overreact to that and make bad decisions around that.” Frankly, she said, “I don’t care if your child is in a public school [or] in a private school. If they are not in your home, you have a duty to know who’s forming them. Not just their education, [but] who’s forming them as human beings and what [those policies are].”
The truth is, Cobb added, “the forces of evil are after our children in the school system. They don’t give up. And so I think people need to be very, very aware of what’s being attempted, particularly in public schools. Although lots of parents think, ‘Oh, I put my kid in a private school, I’m done.’ And that is not the case either.”
Any sort of indifference around your child’s education is costly. Moms and dads need to be heavily invested in everything their kids are being taught — no matter how old they are. As Neily pointed out, “If you don’t know what’s going on in your kids’ classroom, if you don’t know what their books are or what their lesson plans are, ask. And if you don’t get the answers you want, then we urge people to go to the principal — elevate it, go to the superintendent, go to the school board. You are entitled to all of this information under federal law,” she insists. “And it is important that parents exercise that [right], because clearly the mainstream media has fallen down on this and they are not paying attention to these things. They think parents who have the temerity to ask these questions are the villains, not the school systems themselves.”
When you ask those questions, document it, she urges. “I think asking for materials via email in writing is always important just to build a record. But again, be that squeaky wheel, ask for information. And if parents are not comfortable doing that — and I understand there are many families [who] are like that for a number of reasons — my team and I are always happy to be the bad guys.” Reach out to them.
“We will [file a Freedom of Information Act request]. We will ask the questions, we will put people under a microscope. … That not only that family gets the relief that they deserve, but [it also helps] other members of that community who have no idea what is taking place,” Neily observes. [They’re] able to make better decisions. I think, unfortunately, the families that are most victimized by this system are low-income families that don’t have the time to do so.” There are groups who can fill in those gaps, she wants families to know.
3. Be the ultimate authority of your child’s education.
Your son or daughter may be in their teachers’ care 30-plus hours a week, but that doesn’t mean the school is in charge of your kids’ education or their formation as human beings with a mind and soul. Even if your child is in a Christian school, where they’re getting a solid biblical foundation, that doesn’t release you, as parents, from discipling and mentoring them in their spiritual formation. “We know Scripture [defines] knowledge as the wisdom of the Lord, fear of the Lord,” Cobb reiterates. That’s priority number one, and it’s a responsibility that moms and dads cannot — and should not — delegate.
“Children do better when parents and other authority figures in their lives — like teachers, like school administrators — partner together for a child’s best interest,” Neily underscores. “Unfortunately, we have far too many school systems in America that treat families like the enemy. They think that they know better than we do how to raise our children. I mean, I think back to Hillary Clinton saying, ‘It takes a village.’” Not true, she argues. “They are not the governor’s kids. They are not the state legislators’ kids. They are my kids. They’re your kids. And so, it is really important for parents to have a front seat, because I do think that if a teacher [or principal] knows that there are vigilant parents that are paying attention, that will raise a stink … they will be a little bit more careful about the kinds of assignments that they pull off the internet at night.”
At the end of the day, being the final authority on your children’s education might mean drastic changes. “Be ready … to make a move where your values are more aligned with your child’s education,” Cobb advises. Maybe that will require financial assistance or relocating to a state with school choice laws that give your kids more options. “Because the reality is they’re in school a lot of hours, and that is fundamentally shaping who they are. And we want them to be everything that God designed them to be.”
4. Be encouraged.
As outrageous as the headlines can be, the lay of the land isn’t entirely bleak for America’s classrooms. Thanks in part to the Trump administration for cracking down on the woke states and policies, “We come back to school in a strong position,” Cobb believes. “The good news is parents are more … awake than ever before. They know school is about more than reading, writing, and math. There were times when people just thought, ‘I’m sending them off, they’re going to get a basic education. And that’s all school’s about.’ Now,” she says, “I think everyone knows that schools are an ideological battlefield, and more and more parents are ready to do battle.”
One of the most significant victories is that parents’ eyes are open to the fact that the Left isn’t just trying to capture our children in obvious ways like sex education. “It’s everywhere. … Then, of course, the federal government under Trump, put clear markers down,” Cobb applauded. “Male means male. Female means female. We’re talking about what that means in bathrooms, in education. [Trump] really reversed some Biden-era disastrous policies that I think were harming children.”
One thing Christians need to understand, FRC’s Casey Harper stressed in the conversation with Cobb, “is that there’s a lot of bluff from those who want to peddle this [radical] stuff. And if you actually just stand up to it and don’t back down, there’s nothing behind the intimidation. … And I think parents saw this when they stood up to the school boards, and things actually did start to change. … It’s been my experience [that] when people do take a stand, they’re actually a lot more successful than they think they will be.”
Absolutely, Cobb agreed. “I do think that people have been successful and are continuing to really make just incredible strides. And now, in recent days, we have some Supreme Court rulings behind us … that say, yes, parents can opt their children out of controversial material. Yes, girls’ sports should be about girls. So we’ve had some great sort of legal [victories] for those who feel that they need that kind of cover.”
But at the end of the day, Cobb points out, all that matters is that “as believers … if we were given the authority to do as Jesus did, and He tells us that we’re responsible for our children, we have everything we need to go into battle and to be successful.”
Notice: This column is printed with permission. Opinion pieces published by AFN.net are the sole responsibility of the article's author(s), or of the person(s) or organization(s) quoted therein, and do not necessarily represent those of the staff or management of, or advertisers who support the American Family News Network, AFN.net, our parent organization or its other affiliates.
