When I was a kid, it was my understanding that school boards were largely apolitical and meetings were viewed as routine, administrative, and boring. These days, school board meetings seem to rival reality television shows. Concerned moms have been demonized as “domestic terrorists,” and school boards around the country have weaponized resource officers to stifle parents’ free speech at board meetings. If you just barely scratch the surface, you’ll find that deeply concerning things are taking place in our education system right now.
This scares me because my wife is very pregnant with our unborn son. My sister and brother-in-law are due three weeks ahead of us, also with a baby boy. My brother-in-law and I are not concerned about the dirty diapers or the lost sleep. That’s just part of being a dad.
But how do we cope with a reality that in a few short years, our sons will be navigating an abyss of taxpayer funded, “grown-up” facilitated indoctrination? Today’s news details stories of nihilism, only to tee up a rebuilding of society founded on falsehoods that are reminiscent of China’s Cultural Revolution. As someone who has spent time studying in Communist China, I can tell you that we don’t want that life for our kids.
On any given day, we’re reading about attacks on girls and women through Title IX changes, woke teachers’ unions, and so much more. We’re learning that parents are being excluded from academic decisions, ironically, in the interest of “inclusion.” As a new dad, how am I supposed to feel about the idea of “sex ed” lessons that defy science and religion, telling my son that he can choose to be a boy or a girl, or something in between?
I have learned that in many states, schools are using critical race theory (CRT) inspired coursework to teach kids that they are inherently different based on the color of their skin. My two best friends from early childhood had a different racial background than me, but as kids, we had no idea. I thought I was Superman, he was Batman, and she was a princess.
And now here I am with my own kid on the way and I’m learning how schools are teaching children that they must be “anti-racist,” exposing them to ideas that harvest racial prejudice, hatred, and discrimination. Surely other dads are catching on to this.
School board members and administrators will claim that none of this is happening, and that CRT is just a college course. Really? Have you asked your kid about their day at school? Have you read the news?
There is a lot of smoke here, so as a new father, obviously I am going to look for the fire. That’s why I started to attend school board meetings. I had to see it to believe it, and it is shocking to witness how education has been weaponized to dismantle parent-child relationships. Schools are literally ignoring the will of parents, turning to social workers for state approved, federally funded, politically influenced solutions to complex child development issues.
I spent considerable time in China, so I know about the concept of “re-education.” Right now, our education system is being used to destroy the family unit and devalue the roles of parents. Concurrently, woke school boards, the Biden Administration, and the media are gaslighting parents on these issues so that they have time to adequately re-educate our youngest, most impressionable generation.
When concerned parents can neither scrutinize nor question the institutions that we once trusted to help educate America’s future, our scrutiny must grow louder and more frequent.
When I go to school board meetings, with a few exceptions I am surrounded by concerned moms. These ladies are showing up to school board meetings, driving to state capitals to testify before elected officials, speaking in front of state education agencies, and so much more. These moms are fired up, and they’re a force to be reckoned with. They’re actively sharing information in Facebook Groups and they have been the backbone of a fast-growing parents’ rights movement.
But dads, where are you guys? Our moms cannot do this on their own, and it is past time that we join in the fight. Parenthood takes two, and while our moms have won important battles, we need each other to win this war.
Now that the school year has begun, the stakes have never been greater, and from one battle to the next the stakes have never been greater. At the highest level, this is a fight for America’s future, and closer to home, we’re talking about the life of your child. Involved fatherhood is linked to better outcomes on nearly every measure of a kid’s wellbeing and right now, there is an urgent need for fathers to align with mothers and put parents’ rights and children’s best interests first.
Dads should start by learning about educational policies and forming relationships with other concerned parents. It takes little effort to simply be present at school board meetings, listening to what is discussed, with your mere presence serving as a reminder that votes and decisions won’t go unnoticed. And when those administrators or board members fail your child, be bold enough to challenge those officials and take their positions from them yourself, or support someone who will.
Fathers, and men, I implore you: do not sit on the sidelines, hoping for the best as others fight in your place. No one will fight for your child like you can. Be a man, stand next to a strong mom or another dad, and get involved in the parental choice movement today.
Adam Rizzieri is the co-founder and CMO of Agency Partner Interactive and a leadership development advisor for FreedomWorks’ Building Education for Students Together.