Needed: Parents with the courage to confront the progressive tide

Across the country, parents of school-age children have found themselves flung through the looking-glass. The widespread espousal of the Sexual Revolution’s principles has culminated in promoting the LGBT+ ideology not only to adults, but also to young children. Only a few years ago, many Americans apparently agreed to the normalization of homosexual behavior, even going so far as to celebrate the radical redefinition of marriage. After all, the saying went, who cares what two consenting adults do in private, anyway?

But the wide-scale rejection of traditional morality is now manifesting itself in new, predictable ways: schoolchildren receiving pro-LGBT+ propaganda in the classroom, drag queen story hour at local libraries, the hollowing out of women’s sports, bathroom and locker room policies that endanger girls, and allowing students to assume their chosen gender identity at school (even without informing parents).

For many parents, this all comes as a shock to the system. Simply put, such a level of ideological manipulation, backed up with a stubborn (even bullying) defense by school administrators and other government officials, has opened their eyes to the uglier aspects of the Sexual Revolution’s trajectory. Now, parents have two paths to choose: the way of anxiety or the way of courage.

The way of anxiety involves keeping up with the expectations of a particular class of people (rightly identified as cultural elites). The elites demand a newly prescribed script for family life and childhood. Long periods of time in school are often coupled with highly scheduled extracurricular activities intended to bolster college applications and resumes. The overwhelming ambition is for one’s children to be admitted to the “right” college, which in turn must result in a high paying (generally white-collar) career. The child must become a worker acceptable to the wider system. As one classical liberal arts teacher observed, some parents seem to hope there is a cubicle warmed and ready as a workplace for their offspring. Is that all Christians want for their children?

Parents are under pressure to comply with the expectations of various experts and administrators who occupy positions of influence. Of course, as is now obvious, these expectations keep changing as the cultural demands rapidly morph, ensuring that few parents are ever progressive enough. On the cutting edge of the culture, yesterday’s hero is today’s villain, so parents and their children must keep altering their speech, manners, loyalties, and beliefs to remain in good standing. Worries over job loss and social ostracism are paramount. Parents are encouraged to pursue a way of life that is profoundly anxious, unmoored from the permanent, and unchanging. Live by lies, because that is the only way to get by.

The way of courage holds that social standing and material gain should be secondary to the pursuit of the good, the true, and the beautiful—especially when children are involved.

In recent weeks, parents and other concerned citizens have spoken out bravely in public meetings against a destructive immorality so often championed by the state and global corporations. Whether their children attend public schools or private academies that have espoused progressive sexual morality, parents are organizing to gain control and exert influence. To speak freely about one’s convictions is a hallmark of a free people. To take responsibility for the education of children is a parental duty.

Meanwhile, other families perceive a losing battle on hostile territory in the public schools and have opted for alternative approaches to education. Traditional Christian schools, parish schools, classical academies, co-ops, and the dazzling array of homeschooling options have experienced a notable uptick in new, interested families. While many of these parents are distraught at the prospect of paying for educations they had not budgeted for, they remain willing to pursue schooling options they would never have considered otherwise. That takes courage.

The school choice movement will likely enjoy a surge of popularity as more citizens become frustrated with paying taxes for public education, for which they have no use. More importantly, the rise of concerned parents and neighbors may lead to a better educated, freer, and more courageous citizenry. That should encourage us all.