Parents can defeat wokism
By Margaret Hickey, Mercator.
Book Review: Raising Conservative Kids in a Woke City: Teaching Historical, Economic, and Biological Truth in a World of Lies, By Stacy Manning and Katy Faust, Post Hill Press.
Katy Faust and Stacy Manning are two strong-minded, Christian, conservative American mums, determined to raise their children with traditional faith values inside the enemy lines of an aggressive woke culture. They live in Seattle, which has become familiar to us as a city on the cutting edge of wokist hysteria. The task of raising children with moral weaponry to withstand the woke ideological headwinds doesn’t come much harder than in Seattle.
Their children, seven in all, range from Second Year College level to Fourth Grade (roughly equivalent to our Third Class), and the book wraps up with testimonies from each one of them, which show their parents have been amazingly successful in the task they set themselves.
Katy and Stacy, supported by their husbands who share their values and missionary spirit, set out a very clear road map for other parents to follow. They give many concrete examples of how the journey plays out in the real lives of their children in accounts of their interactions with teachers and classmates. The children’s ability to score points in verbal jousts with adults and peers alike is indeed impressive.
However, behind the successes lies a lot of hard work and dedicated, vigilant, and perhaps rather intense parenting. It is certainly not as easy as it might first appear. The authors make it clear that parents themselves are “the program”. Their example, their expertise, their confidence, their interpersonal skills and, not by any means least, their availability offer their children the map they must follow if they are to hold their heads high in a hostile culture.
“Availability” is more than just being around when they have something to share. It also means what the authors call “no flinch” openness and calmness to whatever startling communications offspring may bring home from school or play. This ensures lines of communication stay open, and children know they can tell anything to Mom and Dad without triggering hysterics or panic.
The core of this philosophy is that parents give their children the space to develop independence gradually as the parental role evolves from that of protector and teacher to respected consultant by the time the college years approach. They sum up their method as a progression from “you watch, I do” to “we do together” to “you do, I watch” to “you do on your own” unless you want to consult.
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