VIEWPOINT: Raising conservative kids in a ‘woke’ world

Guest column by Caroline Woods

South Dakota is a great state to raise a family. It’s one of the most free and conservative states in the nation, but are children shielded from the woke mind virus?

Everywhere we turn, the LGBTQ+ agenda and Marxism is being shoved down our children’s throats, and South Dakotans are far from immune. It’s easy to let our guard down since it’s such a family-friendly state, but we can’t afford to — not if we want to raise our children to be level-headed, well-equipped adults. Woke indoctrination is here, so how do we dismantle it?

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Katy Faust and Stacy Manning authored a book called, Raising Conservative Kids in a Woke City, which gives parents helpful advice on how to navigate raising children in a world that often feels upside-down. They have firsthand experience parenting their kids in Seattle, a city gripped by far-left ideology. There’s no escaping the twistedness of our world, and Faust and Manning point out that it’s impossible to shelter our children from everything.

They share stories of their children fighting back against the leftist indoctrination at their public schools, including dismantling Marxist ideology and other harmful ideas pitched to them. We know it’s impossible to keep our children from being exposed to dangerous worldviews, so we as parents must combat them instead. Intentional parents are looking for answers on how to raise kids that will think critically, debate intelligently, resist bad ideas and appreciate our nation’s freedoms.

Authors Faust and Manning give sound advice on how we can do this.

Be the expert

To combat the “woke program,” we as parents must be the “anti-woke program,” Faust and Manning advocate. As parents, we must be experts on everything from socialism to gender ideology to American Exceptionalism. We must know our stuff and “have the facts straight.” If we are not intentionally combatting falsehoods with truth, our children can fall prey to warped ideologies. If we don’t teach them that it’s impossible for a boy to become a girl, someone else will convince them otherwise.

Faust and Manning provide helpful resources to parents on how to do this well. “When it comes to social issues, CanaVox is one of the best resources,” they voice. Adding to the list, they propose podcasts for parents to listen to such as BreakPoint, Wallbuilders and Daily Wire.

Get to children first

Children often place the most trust in whoever talks to them first about a topic. Although we as parents would love to make a schedule that shows exactly when certain topics are most appropriate to explain to our kids, this never works. Someone else will always get to them sooner than what we believe is appropriate. Kindergarten children are being taught gender ideology, and 8 year olds are being exposed to pornography (the average age for first exposure is 8 to 11 years). We must get to them sooner. If we broach the topics first, our kids are more likely to return to us with questions when they encounter these things out in the “real world.”   

This doesn’t mean we have to talk about uncomfortable topics in a graphic manner, but it does mean we must talk about them. In simplistic terms and factoring in age appropriateness, Faust and Manning say parents should talk to their children first about everything under the sun before middle school.  

Don’t flinch

There will be times when our kids tell us what Sally told them on the playground or how Thomas touched them inappropriately or that Jonny showed them pornography. Our first instinct as parents is usually outrage, and rightfully so. But children shut down when we respond with such strong emotion towards them. Instead, Faust and Manning encourage parents to establish trust and master the “no-flinch” face. Be a royal guard — don’t react with strong emotion.

Instead, calmly respond and ask questions — then act. Whether the situation requires us to file a police report or simply answer an uncomfortable question, we as parents must demonstrate that we are a safe place to talk about anything and everything.

On a personal note, it’s quite frankly a terrifying world to navigate raising my son in, but with Faust and Manning’s helpful parenting manual, I’m encouraged to arm myself with the necessary tools for the task at hand. Living in fear is not the answer, although it’s easy to find ourselves there. Instead, equipping myself as a parent to teach truth, combat phony ideologies and sharpen arrows is the best approach I can offer my son and future children.

For every South Dakota parent who is serious about raising sane, well-rounded adults in our distorted society, Faust and Manning’s book is a must read.

Caroline Woods is a professional communications consultant and Founder of Woods Strategies. She's a conservative wife and mother living in Rapid City.