As more families pull their kids out of public school and flee to red states, two Seattle moms argue parents can still raise conservative kids in places that are hostile to their beliefs.
Katy Faust and Stacy Manning's upcoming book, "Raising Conservative Kids in a Woke City: Teaching Historical, Economic, and Biological Truth in a World of Lies," aims to give parents a game plan of how to instill truth in their children, and prepare them to be confident adults who can articulate their beliefs without being consumed by the surrounding culture.
Their advice is based on the classical education model, which teaches children according to their developmental stages. The first phase, called the grammar phase is where they absorb the most information. That means parents need to be extra diligent to "filter out" false messages their kids may learn outside the home during these years, Manning told Fox News Digital.
"That is why the folks in Florida freaked out so much about the so-called 'Don't Say Gay Bill,' the Parental Rights Act in education signed by Ron DeSantis," she added. Manning and Faust compared this stage to the "software-writing phase" of a child's development.
During this critical stage it is important to "steep them in truth and beauty," Faust said, quoting American evangelist D.L. Moody.
Parents can do this by teaching their children conservative principles through simple, everyday conversations. Children should observe parents listening to thoughtful podcasts and reading great books, Faust said. Parents also need to educate themselves and become equipped to be viewed as the "expert" in their family on issues that have come under attack by the culture, such as American history and gender/sexuality, they said.
"Don't expect your kid to become an expert unless you become the expert. You can teach what you know, but you replicate what you are. So you are not going to build somebody that can stand firm against the lies, identify untruths, and stand alone when they need to, unless you are also able to do that," Faust said.
In the next phase, called logic, junior high age students are then equipped to compare how "woke" messages stack up against conservative principles parents have already taught them.
"That's the time when you start to teach them how to filter out the information as you send them out into the world. And they start to grapple with these really contentious societal issues they're using that stick that you help them whittle in elementary school," Manning said.
As children view their parents as the "experts," they should expect their children to share shocking things they may have learned from teachers or other kids at school. It's critical for parents to model an appropriate emotional response, so kids do not feel afraid to be honest with them, the authors explain in their book.
"It’s not your child’s job to manage your emotions. Children are not your rage-release valve. For the most communicative, open relationship with your kid, emotional release needs to be a one-way street, headed in your direction. The No-Flinch rule prioritizes your child’s intellectual and emotional needs above your urge to blow up," the moms wrote.
Finally, in high school, the rhetoric phase, parents move to a "consultant" role and employ more of a hands-off approach to prepare teens for adulthood.
"And then in high school, you really get to downshift. If you installed that worldview, and you've you've been in the trenches with them, that's the time when you move into the consultant role," Manning said. During those final years under their roof, older kids get to practice articulating and defending their own beliefs.
Too many parents make the mistake of either overprotecting their children or having a laissez-faire attitude toward their child's education, they said. Both approaches will not help a child be ready to face the world.
"We have to remember that shelter is temporary and that we are not raising children; we're raising adults. And we've raised too many children by protecting them and providing safe spaces so that now we have college students that need coloring books and quiet rooms when they're confronted with an idea that doesn't align with their worldview," Manning said.
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"The world is going to introduce information that you don't want your children to hear before they are ready as you perceive it…If the kid next to your kid at school introduces them to porn and you have not explained pornography and the dangers of it in the long term, the addiction and suffering that can come from it, the kid's not going to come back to you to follow up when they have more questions about it," Manning said.
"They're going to go to their fourth grade expert with the cell phone because clearly they know more about it, or you would have told them about this thing in the first place," she continued. "So you're going to have to be ready to say things that make you squirm and bring up in an age-appropriate ways the real tumult in the world with your children."
"Better a year, too early than 5 minutes too late," Faust added.
The authors say their advice and method can empower parents by showing them their kids don't have to be victims of the culture.
"We don't minimize how dangerous and damaging the ideologies are that are swirling about in their classroom online, among their friend group," Faust said. "Our message is your children don't have to be victimized by it. You can train them to influence the culture rather than be influenced by the culture. But that is very intentional. It does not happen by accident."
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