Culture Guard: #1 on Your Child’s Back-to-School Checklist: YOU!

Hi Everyone – I’m Kari Simpson. Having survived the raising of my 4 children during some of the most societal challenging of times I get asked often for parenting tips. One of the questions that is frequently asked involves “word crimes”, otherwise known as swearing or cussing. Well, you see, this coin eating machine is sometimes prominently displayed in our home. You can imagine that having a busy household of family, friends business associates and acquaintances that there might be the rare occasion where an individual or two might be inclined to use words that are illegal in our household. Now note I didn’t say forbidden. You see, swearing and cussing was never a big problem with my kids growing up. I am not that often inclined to swear and they weren’t. Sure, they tried to it on when they were younger. It didn’t fit. It wasn’t until recent years with the expanding family of relatives and their relatives and friends (mostly adults) that I found a need to have a tool of cussing dissuasion at my disposal. Thus I embraced the powerful tool of assigning financial penalty to those who committed word crimes. It has worked brilliantly. It goes like this, there are certain people in my life and that of our 7 grandchildren, that I love to bits but are inclined to occasionally use terms of expression that are deemed to be unacceptable. Most of the time the use is not intentional but nevertheless it happens. On these occasions when such words are spoken, and witnessed by the young impressionable minds and ears that are often about – well there has to be a consequence. Now don’t get me wrong. I am sure the public record demonstrates my complicity in this regard, and for that I have contributed a fair share of financial penance for the word crimes I have committed. Be assured though, that my usage is usually contextually acceptable. How can that be, you ask? Well sometimes you just have to damn well tell it like it is even if it is captured by my own house rules. Yes I committed a word crime! As for all those who visit and contribute to my grandchildren’s post secondary education, we thank you!

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I’m Kari Simpson and this week’s show is on Culture Guarding your kids – A bit of a back to school pep talk.

Well, it’s that time of year. Most parents are eager for September to roll around. The back to school shopping signals the hope of routine, and for some the possibility of enjoying a quiet house for a few hours of the day.

As a mom to four – now healthy happy well-adjusted adults – the weeks leading up to the launching of a new school year, though years ago, are still emblazoned in my brain. The long lists of who needed what – and the whats changed every year depending on the grade.

Yep, back to school check lists were typically long and expensive and kept evolving. Today’s checklist reflects the technological changes and can now demand laptops, memory sticks and other wired toys and tools that go along with those lead free pencils and environmentally considered paper products. Special clothing, lunch boxes and earthquake survival kits are a must for some school checklists.

But the most important educational tool that every successful student will require and must be included in everyone’s checklist is you, the parent, and I mean acting like a parent and not just a name on a birth certificate.

If you love your children – and take your parenting responsibilities seriously – then you have a duty to be involved and informed. The public education system is fraught with ideological dangers that will adversely affect your children and family if they are left vulnerable. You are their protection. You are their shield.

Here’s the deal, and yes I am going to dump on the public education system and rightly so. Sure, there are a lot of good teachers in the system; they know who they are and they will applaud this message. There are also a lot of well-intentioned teachers who are easily manipulated. Then there’s those okay teachers who know the system is facilitating the propagation of junk science, outright lies about human sexuality, and anti-family cultural Marxist ideals, but place their jobs ahead of your child’s best interest and engage in rationalizing their silence and acquiescence by falsely believing that your child’s brief interaction with them will counteract all the bull shit that is being delivered into the classrooms of Canada.

They are wrong in that belief. Then there are the clearly bad teachers, so-called professionals that purposefully abuse their roll as a teacher to indoctrinate your child – your son or daughter – with a political agenda, misinformation and societal views that are contrary to the beliefs and ideals of most civil hard-working Canadians and the realities around us.

As a parent you are your child’s protector. Act like it. Parents, do not be regulated to a status of irrelevancy. You are your child’s most important educator. Yes, a good teacher can facilitate a portion of your son’s or daughter’s education but their roll is NOT a partnership. You as a parent delegate your authority for only a small portion of your child’s learning and as “delegator” you should oversee the job of the individual and judge if they are doing a good job or not.

Shame on you if you have organized your life in a fashion that makes your schedule too busy to be involved in the education of your child. I got news for you: that’s not organization! Double shame if you don’t want to offend the teacher by requiring them to be accountable.

The good news here is that more and more parents are becoming informed and involved. I see from the recent released stats from the BC Ministry of Education that enrolment in the public schools is down by a significant 68,000 students from 2001. Yep, more and more parents are opting out of the public indoctrination system. Most parents I speak to would enrol their children in a private school in a heartbeat if they had the money to do so. So for those whose children are forced to brave the “system”, here are a few more items to add to that back to school checklist:

1. Make yourself known to your children’s teachers and administration. You know, the “Hi, I want to introduce myself. I’m Katherine’s mom…”

2. Call the principal or send them an email. Make contact!

3. Let the teaching and administration staff know that if there is ever a problem involving your child – good or bad – that you welcome their call.

4. Make you presence and your values known in the school.

5. Ask questions. Does this school respect parental rights and invite parental involvement?

6. Ask the teacher how he or she will inform you about guests speaking to the kids. Programs like “Roots of Empathy” bring social workers into the schools and ask prying questions about your families.

7. Ask what kind of sex abuse prevention programs the teacher is going to be relying upon. I raise this as an important lesson. The schools sometime adopt programs of convenience to meet requirements, and severe damage has resulted to some families as a result.

8. Engage your children in conversations. Ask them about what is happening in
their classroom.

9. Government-proof your kids – Teach your children about what is acceptable information to talk with outsiders and the difference between private family matters and general information.

10. Give your children the tools to not speak to social workers. “I don’t have to talk to you. Talk to my mom or dad.”

11. Teach your children about what is an appropriate discussion topic in the classroom vs. what isn’t. Give your children praise when they identify discussions that are anti-family or contrary to your family’s values.

12. Tell your children that not all teachers will respect their rights, that some teachers can be bullies and that you as your child’s parent will deal with them if they have a problem.

13. Equip your kids with wisdom. They will be confronted with having to make decisions about a lot of things in their schools – including being recruited to participate in vaccination programs for sexually transmitted diseases. They will be told they don’t need your permission. Give them the tools to say NO and to let you know when this takes place.

14. Don’t let issues at the school slide by. Take a proactive stance. Find out if in your school your son or daughter will be exposed to pro-homosexual and other sex activist propaganda. Advise the school administration that you won’t allow a political agenda to be used in the school. If a teacher is sporting the political rainbow flag or colours, say no. Same thing for the “day of Silence”.

15. Be resourceful. There are a number of excellent parenting groups and resources available to you on the Internet or by phone, including us here at Culture Guard.

16) I will end this by saying the most import item on this checklist is the knowledge that as parents You are the most important and influential people in your child’s life and the ones who are ultimately responsible for your child’s well being. Become informed and stay aware, but most importantly love your kids enough to show them that you are a savvy and courageous parent that loves them enough to be involved in their lives and to do battle on their behalf if necessary.

Enjoy the day… see you next time.