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thedrifter
04-08-06, 07:21 AM
Raising Children: Left or Right?
Written by Gabriel Garnica
Saturday, April 08, 2006

In an article on The Fifth Column for April 3, 2006, Selwyn Duke proposes very interesting ideas regarding the impact of parental political ideology on the behavior of offspring. Garnered from years of experience working with children, Duke presents us with profound insight into how and why the children of liberals and conservatives tend to act as they do.

Teach Your Children Well

The lyrics of Graham Nash’s song provide a mantra that all parents hope to achieve. In discussing research by psychologist Jack Block of Berkeley accusing conservatives of coming from a “whiny,” insecure childhood. Selwyn does not argue with his findings but more with his interpretation of those findings. The obvious foundation of Selwyn’s premise is that a parent’s political and ideological leanings will have a clear impact on both how his or her child looks at the world and what personality traits that child will exhibit. Selwyn claims to be able to predict parental voting patterns by their children’s general conduct.

It makes perfect sense that the way we see the world will have a great impact on how we will raise our children into that world. Whether we admit it or not, we would like our kids to become the kind of people we value and admire. I doubt that any parent would proclaim that he values individuality so much that he would not care if his kid turned out to be his complete ideological opposite. Since our ideology taints every corner of our lives in some way, it is not a stretch to argue that parents raise little versions of themselves. Maybe this is why people become so defensive when confronted on how they are raising their kids. Simply put, criticizing how we raise our children is a direct personal attack on us because how we raise our kids is fundamentally what we are about.

The "Good" Kid

The image of a “good” kid means different things to different people depending on what they think “good” is. Liberals believe that “good” means not conforming to rules, tradition, and authority. They tend to value bold expression of individuality and permissive ethical evaluations. Liberal parents avoid punishment, enforced limits, and instilled discipline. They value pandering and negotiation with their children, often treating them as adults or pseudo-adults beyond their years.

Liberal kids tend to relate to adults as almost equals, with a correspondingly decreased respect. They usually see fewer rules broken because they see fewer rules out there. They usually complain less to adults because they tend to see adults as sometimes useless. In short, liberal kids do not see adults as the magical solvers of all problems but more as defective fools who grew up and still could not figure things out. I have personally known many kids of liberal parents who speak to and about adults as if they were discussing idiots without a clue.

Since liberals value people who question authority and tradition, seek change, are not intimidated by authority figures, and value subjective morality over established moral norms, they will naturally raise their kids to be this way and describe their kid as “good” when the child exhibits these characteristics.

In contrast, conservatives tend to value rules, tradition, legitimate authority, respect, discipline, order, structure, and accepted hierarchies and thus raise their kids to value these as well. Therefore, when a conservative kid exhibits this kind of behavior his parents will label that kid a “good” kid thus further reinforcing that conduct and those beliefs.

Liberal Spin

What Block interpreted as “whiny” Duke identifies as being more aware of rules and their being broken and complaining through appropriate channels. Duke notes that since liberal kids think most adults are no big deal, are not even aware of most rules, and are more likely to be the one breaking the rules, they tend not to complain as much. What Block interprets as “insecure” Duke identifies as being normally hesitant and a bit uncertain which is all a normal part of being a child. Duke notes that the self-confidence and reliance of liberal kids is often really arrogance and an unrealistic perception of being mature. Based on Duke’s overall analysis, one would conclude that most so-called “brats” are children of liberal parents. Apparently, liberals would describe such brats as “precocious."

Public Education as a Mirror Image

As someone who has experienced private versus public education as both student and teacher, I am amazed how Duke’s observations apply to educational philosophy as well as they do to parental leanings. Increasingly, our public educational system reflects a liberal philosophy and hence values the kind of negotiation, pandering, and pseudo-adult treatment Duke describes regarding liberal parents. Kids are increasingly taught discussing things over strict rules, questioning authority over respect and loyalty, and being treated and acting as middle-aged miniatures rather than innocent children.

A classic example of this occurs in the typical public school English classroom where grammar rules have been replaced by having groups of students discussing and analyzing the feelings and values of characters in a play. While such “purposeful talk” seems progressive on paper, it is often based on the false pretense that kids always get more out of open-ended discussion than stricter, structured learning. I find it chilling that many kids in urban and inner-city public schools are treated and act as if they were adults no matter how childish or immature their behavior is. In return, many of these so-called “adult” kids exhibit open mockery and ridicule of their teachers and often any adult figure. Like the bratty liberal kids that Duke speaks of, the more these kids think that they know all the answers the less really important answers these kids have about anything worthwhile.

The effect of this kind of passive, undisciplined, relative, and rationalized education has been devastating to the American educational system as evidenced by poor student performance and comparison with other nations. Evidence increasingly shows that liberalized education is no less a failure in raising effective and productive adults than liberalized parenting has been.

The Battleground

I firmly believe that liberals are far more sophisticated and aware of this parental impact on a child’s political ideology. This is why the liberal media bombards children with liberal images, the public schools drive home liberal philosophy, and liberal groups target children with sophisticated ad campaigns, and openly disrespect and attempt to break the parental bond and influence on their own kids.

Liberals know that in order to win the war they have to break the hold that conservative parents have on their kids and then drown those kids with liberal messages and agendas. Sadly, they are progressively succeeding in this effort and increasingly influencing future generations. In the meantime, conservatives are fighting back using a flawed strategy.

Conservatives usually counteract this assault on conservatism’s nest by merely stressing conservative principles and agendas either generally or to young people. However, since the media and public schools have an increasingly firm grip on young people and they are nothing if not purveyors of blatant liberal intoxication, conservatives are waging a losing battle unless they do more themselves.

In order to combat liberal influences on young people, conservatives will need to consistently and diligently take conservative messages to young people using the means, methods, and people that young people will listen to. They also need to passionately fight liberal attempts to break the parental bond.

Conclusion

I have seen my share of children of liberal parents, and I must say that I agree with Duke’s observations completely. Liberal parents tend to see raising children as some kind of negotiation between equals leading to an agreement. Conservatives see raising children for what it is: A responsibility to shape a human being into a productive and respectful member of society (inclusive of any correction and discipline required for such a mission). As often happens, liberals tend to be as delusional about how they raise their kids as they are about practically everything else.

What I find most ironic almost to the point of being humorous is the observation that even though liberals tend to teach and treat their kids to act as mini-adults, the end product of this flawed approach to life and family can often be an adult who will forever be a moral and ethical child.

About the Writer: Gabriel Garnica, Esq., is an educator, licensed attorney, and resident of Long Island, New York. As a conservative Latino college professor working in New York City, Mr. Garnica feels that his picture is found in the dictionary under the term "exception." He can be contacted at gbgmyarticles@yahoo.com.

Ellie