The Liberated Learner – Column by Suzanne Kearney
Do you remember seeing The Wizard of Oz for the very first time? Maybe you imagined following Dorothy down the yellow brick road, eagerly anticipating the Great Oz’s rescue from the unfamiliar land of wicked witches, flying monkeys, and lions and tigers and bears. Oh my! When the wizard turned out to be nothing but smoke and mirrors, you celebrated when Dorothy was nevertheless saved by an ironic twist: within her magic slippers was the power to return home the entire time.
Our community, our nation, is also in need of rescue. Our institutions are captured — government, technology, medicine, law, media, entertainment, education — all dominated by leftists, even Marxists. The so-called “global elite” salivate at the thought of “dismantling systems of oppression,” destroying everything that our forefathers gave their lives, fortunes, and sacred honor to bequeath.
Even more troublesome, the youth of our generation have bought the lie that America is fundamentally oppressive, evil, and systemically racist. They are taught to kneel for the flag, sit for the pledge, and worship at the altar of social justice. Many graduate from high school deficient in reading and math, but experts in woke activism.
Adolf Hitler said, “He alone, who owns the youth, gains the future.” Yet, at the precise window when our children are most impressionable, we remove them from the comfort of home and outsource their upbringing for six to seven hours a day. We forfeit much of the fleeting, precious opportunity to shape their minds and souls, and give it to the state.
Why would we surrender our children’s most formative years to the government? We give them to Caesar and are surprised when they turn out like Romans. Jesus said, “A disciple, when he is fully trained, will be like his teacher.” When did we buy the lie that public school is “normal?”
Deuteronomy 6:6-7 (NIV) says to teach your children “when you sit in your house, when you walk on the road, when you lie down, and when you get up.” In other words, true education takes place when parents spend extended time with their children, imparting knowledge, faith, wisdom, and values within the context of family life.
If we want to reclaim our country, we must take back our kids. We already have the power to enact change — real, comprehensive, lasting change. That power is home education. Not only is this a much overlooked tool in the war for reclaiming our nation’s founding values, it is arguably the most compelling.
Imagine a world where the indoctrination transportation (school buses) stopped running, and children once again were raised fully by their parents, where they were free to explore their own interests, engage in the community, and have time for life skills or apprenticeships.
The experiment of compulsory government schooling (which has only been around for about 200 years) would be further exposed for the fraud that it is. Children once again would be restored to real education — the way God intended it from the beginning. Family values, classics, non-revisionist history, faith traditions, and all that our nation was built on would be passed down to the coming generation. They would be raised in truth, beauty, and goodness by loving parents making an intentional investment in their hearts and minds. Is it wishful thinking, or a real possibility?
The power is already yours, right at your feet. If you want to be part of a growing movement to take back our kids and restore our culture, just close your eyes, tap your heels three times, and pull your kids out of public school.
Because when it comes to education, there’s no place like home.
