If you have children or grandchildren, if you’re an aunt or an uncle, or if you just have friends raising children today, that next few minutes may change your life. Here in America speaks, we receive such an amazing emotional response to our special session with moms acknowledging and often condemning the negative impact of social media on their children. It was so powerful that we decided to expand the conversation to dads as well, and expand the topic to all the challenges of raising children in today’s difficult environment. So for the next 35 minutes, and then again, next week, we’re featuring moms and dads just like you telling their stories and being the people in charge to listen up, pay attention, and partner with parents as they seek to do the toughest job in the world, raising good children. I’m Dr. Frank Luntz and you’re listening to American speaks right here, and straight our news. Let’s get right to the conversation. Over the last couple of weeks, we did a session just with moms about the challenges of social media and AI. And the response was overwhelmingly positive. And I was asked, please include dads as well. So we’re going to expand the issue to all areas of parenting. And EJ, let’s start with you. What is your single greatest challenge as a dad, making sure that my daughter knows what we believe as a family and why
Tammy as a mom, what you raise challenge, safety and bowl bullying that’s occurring in the schools that they’re at and making sure they feel secure. Maria, what’s your greatest challenge as a mom
is trying to keep my my son home and entertained instead of the streets.
They had to go to school, but they’re real quick to go back to the basketball court, being at the school and play for hours is just safety reasons and my neighborhood.
Laura, what’s your greatest challenge is a mom.
That’s making my making sure my children’s day innocent as long as possible trying to shield them from any corruption, whether it be educational or otherwise.
Jason, your greatest challenges is that
it’s the emotional and physical safety of my children by physical. I feel like the schools are more focused on protecting themselves first and our kids second. And I guess emotional is sort of they give them a short period of innocence before they get bombarded by the outside work coming in through social media and to their peers.
Thank you grace challenges as a mom, teaching them accountability and responsibility, and just combating the competing voices out there that are going against our family values.
When Grace challenges that
there are comfortable in terms of social media, I would say, monitoring what my children see, in terms of school, bullying, and
this test,
this testing culture where everything is built, is built around a test instead of preparing them as whole, as people see into the world.
Okay, let’s do it by show of hands, how many of you are truly afraid for the health and safety of your children? On a daily basis? Raise your hands. That’s a lot of you. So I want to I want to understand why Tammy, I’m gonna start with you, then Maria, then Laura. What are you afraid of, at this point in American life, about something violent happening to your child? I think because the media like really shows it a lot and they’re gonna see it somewhere. So it’s just a fear factor to instill in that. You know, that their safety protocols and it’s just a fear factor. I need to get them through.
React, Is it fear, or is it real, a real threat of violence? Well, it is a real threat every day is but they experienced the fear. So I tried to address it at home too and not just leave it up to the schools to do Maria.
My experience of an incident that happens behind my building having to do with the kids at school.
And
what happened
it was all over a girl but some kid came running behind him on one of the bikes the bikes with a broom, and he caught him off guard and he got him in a snack in his face.
And then he was hitting beating my child with that.
And, you know, kids were around and nobody would stop it. I mean, it was just crazy and how the school dealt with it, they didn’t exactly deal with it. And was anyone else in this conversation
had a child that was the victim of violence?
Well,
they were, they were not the victim, but they were next to the person that was. So I addressed with a school superintendent. And I, what it was is she has a best friend that is of, you know, a different color. And someone made a very bad remark about what they grew up as a cotton picker. And that really affected my daughter, and the school did nothing. They did absolutely nothing about it. Our parents come from more than a dozen states and from every occupation in every region of the country, some are financially comfortable, others financially challenged, but the greatest challenges you’re about to hear about are impacting children and parents everywhere. And some of those challenges are getting worse every day. Let’s listen in.
What is your greatest challenge in raising your child? Can we?
Can you think about the conversations that you have with your spouse or your significant other or your friends about the things that you
need to address in regards your children, but you have a just a very difficult time? Can you share with me those challenges? It can be anybody here? Jason, go ahead. And then Steven, and then Tammy, and I want everyone to come in.
Jason, go ahead. Yeah, our I guess one of our biggest concerns is it seems like a lot of sexualization in children’s entertainment even in like our daughters read voraciously. But even in some of the comic books and graphic novels, they want to get kids moved along that path of adulthood sooner. A lot of skimpy clothing, probably the market to young girls, especially I have two girls and a boy. And so we’re just noticing that just just like in the USA, consider prudish by the countries, but we have a heavy level of sexualization and our entertainment and marketing even towards kids. And we’re a military family and our public schools are, you know, about 40% of the kids, you know, in my son’s elementary school are from military families. So I think the culture is a little bit different than it is in most places. You know, we just, I don’t want to say we raise our kids differently. But how is it different? How is the culture different? Please tell us. So I we don’t have we haven’t experienced any issues with bullying, violence.
You know, most fathers or mothers or both parents, you know, I’m former military, my husband’s currently on active duty. I don’t want to see me raise our kids different, but there’s just maybe a different standard of expectations and discipline, that a lot of things you know, that maybe fly in some places don’t fly in the area that we’re in America, see you nodding your head. So normally, they don’t think it’s about to fall off. Go ahead.
What are our phones, very traditional, my wife from Colombia, they had a different upbringing, there and here, and it’s very tough for them. And so coming from a traditional family, ourselves, for her and for my family, try to really engage our kids like,
we feel it’s important like to stay away from a lot of the social media devices and a lot of like computers and such and just try to explain when you talk to one of the we talked to someone,
we want to look him in the eye, you want to make sure that you’re telling them the truth, that you’re when you’re talking to people that you’re accountable for what you say and do if you say you got to do something, go ahead and fulfill it. And if you can’t let them know why you can’t, I think a lot of what’s going on is
parents aren’t really engaging their kids to the way they probably should sometimes. And I think it’s very easy. And I see this all the time we’re out to dinner where our kids don’t have the cell phones and devices. We’re talking with the kid they’re doing the coloring, I’m working with the coloring on the you know, on the off garden or different places and you look over next to
the parents are on their phone and the kids are on their phone and no one’s talking. Like no one’s figuring out like, what they want for dinner. No one’s talking to the other child. How was your day today? You know, at school, you know? Do you have any challenges what happened to you like, if you’re not interested in what’s going on in someone’s life? It’s like that disconnect develops. What makes this session so powerful, is that I’m going to encourage you to explain not just how you think, but how you feel, and to provide some context, the challenges that we read about and hear about every day, but don’t always understand
it
So with that in mind, Brittany, what is the greatest challenge you have, as a mom, in today’s society?
I believe my greatest challenge is just the with social media,
the whole dynamic of the narrative, that that’s being painted. There’s a certain narrative with like sexual identity that is being placed on through the TV to cartoons through in the school system.
That’s, that’s one of my biggest challenges. And, you know, I believe that there should always be a choice, whether or not
if the parent wants to let their children you know, depend on to say, if, you know, if to explain, you don’t male and female, and all of that scenario and that perspective, but that’s definitely a big challenge, because it’s just being pushed as being pushed into media, it’s being pushed in the news. It’s being pushed in the culture of the world of society, period. How do you deal with these competing cultural values that are really sifting down to such a younger, young age than they used to? It isn’t like, seventh and eighth graders having, you know, initial debates now this first and second graders talking about politics and trans and gay rights and everything else. And that’s, that’s really hard to try and just explain what’s even going on first and second graders. Jason, you had your hand up? Yeah. In terms of the values, I would say, partly defensive teachers. And one of the things that makes parents is that the our
institutions to a certain degree are attacking the traditional family. And I will go with entertainment. Pick a comedy show, since you know, because we show the parents, especially the fathers are made to look like doofuses, and that goes from Disney to sitcom. Everybody Loves Raymond Oh, he provided for his family, but he can’t open the refrigerator door. You know, and so everything that they see is considered entertainment, makes the parents look like we’re the dumbest people in the world. Our children are the demographic that every business wants to capture. And they’re trying to get them earlier and earlier. They’re trying to get their data from social media and everything. And my wife and I haven’t completely cut them off. But mostly we don’t have TV anymore, and get our kids to read if they don’t have computers, but we control their access. And we make them go out and do things, even with their friends will drive them over to their friends hoping they can develop some good personal habits that will feed into their ethical values, like knowing how to handle conflict
stories anymore. Sorry, Frank. Okay, explain that you can take to the stores anymore. I mean, just like I mean, it’s been like this for a few years, we’re just like, go into Kohl’s into Target. And, you know, having to explain the minute you walk in the front and center, the, you know, transgenderism, you know, shirts, and gear and, and pride and this and that. And all these different aspects of we just can’t go in and shop without having to answer questions. And I mean, I’m fine answering questions. And we went to the point where, you know, we’re a conservative family, this is what we believe, and other people believe different things. But you know, why do we have to be put in that position now with our kids every time we go out in public to have to maybe explain something that they really don’t even need to be asking me about the age. I think it’s not Corporation’s job to tell me what my values are. Their job is to sell beer, their job is to be a retailer, it’s not their job to indoctrinate us in somehow, corporations feel that that’s their right right now. And I think that’s why there’s so much pushback.
Yeah.
Let’s say I’ve seen some of those messages in the public library. And as a result, even going to the library, which is an incredibly good thing. My wife sort of keeps my six year old back, I live in a predominantly African American, large county. And so they have like, when you go in store like candy in the candy aisle, they’re gonna they have shelves before you get to the main library, where they can promote the books that you know, generate a lot of questions will say some about race, gender, and all kinds of issues that seem less about learning and more about putting forth a illegible ideological front. My wife is from a communist country. So she has particularly sharp reactions to some of these things. But I even I see it in the library in terms of put displays to try to promote certain ideas to the forefront not just because then the books, but it’s not I don’t think it’s necessarily promoting right it’s questions are good
We should be encouraging questions, and we should be. And it’s got to be age appropriate, right? You need five year olds to be five year olds is somebody else said, for sure. But you want to encourage kids of all ages to have questions. And then as parents, I think, our challenges our biggest challenge, at least, I think it’s my biggest challenge is finding age appropriate responses to those questions. How do you put things in context? And so like, if somebody mentioned target, you know, yeah, sure, there’s a there’s a pride display up front, you can just say, hey, they like rainbows. And that’s all a five year old needs to hear, because they’re going to flit on to the next question, they’re not going to ask you detailed follow ups there. But if you’ve got a 10 year old, or a 12 year old, and you want to give a more detailed response, because they’re emotionally mature for it, then give that detailed response and encourage the child to ask the questions. But that’s not target indoctrinating anybody, Tanya, your question about selling merchandise, and that’s what corporations should do. They found an underserved market. And if they think they can hock more T shirts, by putting a rainbow display at the front of the store their targets, just trying to make a buck and Bud Light was just trying to make a buck by targeting an underserved market for their beer with that one, spokesperson. But the idea is that it should be on us on parents, I think, to give age appropriate response to those kids questions and redirect them to the values that we hold, whether it’s conservative, liberal values, but you can do that at an age appropriate age. I think that’s the challenge for parents.
The moms and dads in this conversation and talking about the challenges, the cultural challenges. Lastly, is it easier or harder to be a dad now than it was when you were growing up?
Definitely harder now. There’s just so much
input coming into the kids that are maybe not input, but
there’s just so much they have to deal with coming from one side from the other side, you got the social media, you have, you know, friends, you have teachers, the indoctrination of the schools, you have the advertisement at Target, it’s just overwhelming for them. And then we as parents have to come in and straighten it out for them.
EJ tougher harder as a father now than it was for your dad raising you.
I would have to say it’s tougher, I would have to say it’s tougher, simply because the issues have not changed. The issues have always been there. What has changed is the amount and the volume that these issues are given to our to my child, I can I should be able to go into a store and buy a quart of oil from a shelf at target without having to worry about whether or not I’m going to have a six year old asking me questions about why a rainbow is there.
That’s not it is the volume. And I think it’s the volume of the bombardment. And I think it’s also the fact that parents
parents, who feel either afraid or tired.
Worn out dealing with this. Some maybe some.
But I think that that’s the main thing.
When is it easier, harder on you to raise your child than it was for your parents to raise you?
i Excuse me, I think is it mostly harder? And we’re in this from difficult ask me, not just a dad, because it’s a parent period these days?
Am I gonna say so much about that is a bargain or indoctrination? I just think there’s so many ways that kids can get answers, having having a device, being able to access the internet, you know, all those different things. And it’s just on so many ways to get information. But is that information factual? Is it truthful? Or is it just someone sitting in there sitting in their garage saying, Oh, this is what I believe. So I want everyone to believe it.
In that sense, it’s much much more difficult. It is much much more difficult now to
you know, in my as a as a father, but just being a parent, in general. It is much, much harder these days. I want to ask some moms your back in Australia with you then then Cerrito and then Marie.
Easier, harder to be a mom today than it was for your mom. definitely harder.
My mom was a single parent. So she had hard and I, my husband, I’ve been married for 29 years. But we, it’s definitely harder because two things, there are the competing voices. EJ talked about it being the volume, you get more information at a faster pace, you’re getting it at an earlier age before you even know how to process it. But I also think there’s been a structural breakdown of the family over the last 40 years that’s contributed to it as well, you’re seeing more and more parents working out of the home, they’re working two and three jobs, they’re not as available to their children, they are giving them screen time, they are giving them more daycare, more after school clubs, more activities, so they are not spending as much quality time with them. In a treat. It’s tougher or easier. I agree with many of the other parents that it’s much tougher.
It’s just so much that children are exposed to and you know, as they get older, it gets much, much worse. And they have stuff that I sometimes find out things that my daughter knows, and I’m like, where did you find that? Oh, in school when I’m like, really? So it’s it’s just a tremendous amount of things that
children, teenagers are dealing with so much exposure to things that, you know, are certainly at times to me, and I think others will agree not even age appropriate that they even would know or hear about this particular subject. So I just agree that it’s much, much harder today.
A lot has changed since our parents were themselves kids, or has it. One of the most interesting moments in the session was when parents talked about their own childhoods, and how they were raised his kids and how that’s impacted them. Now that their parents today, let’s listen. How are you parenting differently than your parents did for you. And I got to ask, because my parents, I should not even say this because this will go public. But occasionally, my parents used to hit me. Once my mom wants to hit me and I grabbed her arm, that was the last time she ever did. And my dad never wanted to because he wanted me to hang out with him. He did not want to want to discipline me.
Who still
used
occasionally, you might hit your child to discipline them. Raise your hands if you did.
Quite a while back, but yeah.
So tell me about that. Because that’s always been a conversation. Is that the right thing or the wrong thing to do? And Steven, I’m gonna start with you. Yeah, for my kids are older now, you know, 1711 and 12. So I haven’t had to do for a while. And when I did do it, it was strictly just my hand. And only on the bottom, I never used weapons, I never hit him anywhere else. So it was enough to show Hey, I love you. But you’re going to feel a little sting at some discipline. So I was very controlled, much more controlled than what I got, and what my brother got, you know, for sure. But I think now, I started as tall as me. And so I wrestle with my play with him. And I have other ways of discipline that that are effective, you know, and also was very careful with my daughter, because I didn’t want to really, I was really worried about hurting my baby girl, you know, and being you know, a single parent, but also co parenting with their mother. That’s another dimension my parents didn’t have to deal with, which can be also be challenged, because you’re dealing with different households and different opinions on things and lacks lack of communication. My father was six to 325 from South Philadelphia, I got the look.
I never had to worry about much. Oh, when that looked down, I knew exactly where I stood. But now I don’t do that. I don’t have the look.
Or at least I don’t think I do.
But or at least let me say I would I like to try to think that I don’t.
But
when I deal with what I it’s the volume of information, and it’s having to rely on technology to be able to know where she is, and things like that. But let me go back to a previous question that you asked Frank. And is it harder or easier? And I got a chance to think about it as I was listening to everybody’s responses. How the the question that I think makes it so hard for parents today is how do you tell a child the truth in a culture that can’t even define what truth actually is?
How do you tell a child the truth? When the culture asks what is truth, but constantly constantly rejects the rejoinder and replaces truth with emotion.
They’re in love is the problem.
That is the best I have a list of questions. It will be
No question better than that one. The floor is yours, moms and dads, what’s your answer to that question any of you
I will jump in and just say that I, I give my kids truth. And I tell them where our source of truth comes from. And I will say, my kids are older, they’re I have four kids between the ages of 17 and 23. And so I’ve been doing this for a little while. But the biggest thing, it’s one of the challenges is not just teaching them our values and that truth, but teaching them how to stand there on their own with that truth, because the hardest thing sometimes for them, it’s going to be able to stand up and speak that truth to people who don’t want to hear it, who are hostile to it, who are going to persecute them for it. And so we don’t back away from telling truth. And we will, we acknowledge that a lot of people don’t hold to that truth. But this is why we do and this is that we try to give them the tools, and the confidence and the boldness to be able to do that. So that’s,
I think each family has their own truth. And many times truth is more about perspective. And again, it goes back to your upbringing, I’m from another country. So my truth is different than those that are raised here, you know, I have walked a different path in life, my education has opened the doors for truth that some people, you know, maybe don’t agree with. So true to me is relative, it goes back to that those things that you hold dear to your to your own experience, your own life, the values of your family and the identity of every family. On a personal note, those of you who have followed my career know, then in recent years, I’ve devoted myself to the passionate pursuit of the truth. So I wanted to know exactly how parents today are teaching the true to their children. And what I learned surprised me a lot. Let’s listen. We’re gonna teach our kids the difference between a fact and an opinion. You know, what, what is the objective truth, not just what someone identifies as or how they feel. And obviously, you have a truth based on one’s faith, but you also have just what is a fact what’s an objective fact that the sky is blue, or a man has this part, woman has that part, those sorts of things, but we are in society where we’re so hypersensitive to not offending because when you offend, then you can be canceled, you have a mob coming after you either virtually or figuratively. And that’s a problem, you know, because now everyone, because of social media, and a smartphone, everyone has a platform to the world, to have their opinion. So I think we need to learn to respect one another’s opinion. But also recognize what a truth is, because some people I think, use their feelings to get out of accountability. And even adults do this, you know, and I think we just have to have facts over feelings. So Brittany, and then Tanya, and then Laura, I want to focus just on this truth question. Because
not only do I think it is so powerful, but as a pollster, as a researcher.
This is not this is something I believe in on a personal level. But I don’t know. And I know how to do it on a professional level. But I don’t know how to teach it. And they don’t know how to raise children to be devoted to it. I need your advice, Brittany, Tanya, and then Laura.
Well, it kind of goes off a little bit, just piggybacking off of what what Stephen said, the difference between what’s fact and what’s based upon making decisions based upon emotions, or feelings. But I do think that it starts with us. First, you know, we are the first people the first influence that our kids see. So that’s based upon our healing. And, you know, have we taken those steps? Exactly, to to be able to be able to to influence or be able to show what our kids need to see from us. We should be the first influence first. And a lot of the someone said, No, I’m not sure who it was, but the structuring
of the over the last 40 years, with just the parents, the mom and the dad is has changed.
Yeah, I could piggyback on that real quick. That was what I was going to say, back, you know, when my kids were younger, you would send them to their room, they would think about it timeouts, whatever, now that they’re teenagers, you could still ground them and send them to the room but then you also got to have them come out and talk about the feelings and not just how they’re feeling but how the other person who is affected by whatever’s going on feels to if you just send your kid to the room and ground them. These days are way different because they’re just gonna rebel and they’re not getting out.
I’m how they’re feeling. So it’s just like, Oh, I’m not going to address it. That’s how I feel.
It’s the leader, I’m going to jump to you only because you’re nodding your head to that.
How do you handle the truth? In today’s more complex environment? Yes, I was shaking my head with what Tammy said, because having a 16 year old, you can’t just say go in your room anymore, you have to really discuss everything that you come in contact with, or what my child come in contact with. So because there’s so many things, and I don’t want her to rebel, I don’t want her to not talk to me. So I tried to say, Okay, let’s talk about it. Now, let’s, I want you to explain what you’re feeling what you’re thinking.
I’m gonna ask you by show of hands to grade, the average parent, not the people on the Zoom, not yourself, I want you to give the average parent a grade for how effective they are in parenting their children, you know, a is outstanding, B is very good. C is average, D is not failing, but not great. And f is failing.
Good give the average parent and a raise your hands.
Not one of you, that’s fascinating to me. Who give them a B
1234 of you who give them a C
123456. You give them at seven, you give them a D
123. And who give them an F.
So I’m going to ask the three Ds here, EJ, Steven and Wesley.
Why are you so harsh on other parents?
Because I’m harsh on myself in that regard.
Explain harsh on myself. In that regard. You’re going back to what I was what I was stated before. You look, truth by its definition is exclusive mystic.
It excludes what is false. And that is about as that is about as a hard concept as you want to run up against in postmodern culture.
And I think that parents, including myself, and I, and you know, with all the education that I have, I still struggle, and I still stay up at 345 o’clock in the morning sometimes wondering, Am I doing the right thing, and trying to inculcate
truth and love in my child. And even when I don’t have all the right answers, even when I know that the answers that I’m giving are correct, but they’re awful difficult for little ears to hear. And that does still keep me up at night. And I know there are a lot of parents who are awake right now in America who are whether it’s an Alabama or whether it’s an Oregon, it doesn’t matter it there are a lot of parents who are going and my father in law’s a fish farmer in South Alabama. I have people I have family who’s in buck, Lower Bucks County, Pennsylvania, we’re both we’re all doing the same thing. We stay up at night wondering and making sure that we’re trying to give the best answer to our children as we possibly can.
And Steven or Wesley, you give parents a D? Why so harsh?
Well, I will say first of all, sometimes I’ll even give myself a D on days where I feel like I’m failing. But when I say D, I’m looking at society in its totality. And I’m looking at all parents as an aggregate because let’s face it, some parents aren’t there at all they deserve an F, some parents, abuser, children, some parents do very horrible things. And if you want to put that in the aggregate of those who are A’s and B’s, you average out to a D me just look at society. Look at what kids are doing. There are a lot of derelict parents, a lot of deadbeat fathers aren’t involved, some of which are involved not because they don’t want to be because of others circumstances outside their control. But even ones who can’t be there don’t want to be there. So you the family has broken down and I think someone else mentioned that to a degree where there is no more shame and I’m not saying shame the judge on why that condemn but just shame as in, hey, you’re not doing something you’re doing something that’s hurting your family society, knock it off and get it right but because we don’t follow any objective truth anymore and his feelings over facts. No one’s judged, unless of course your political beliefs are different than your justice to kingdom come. But outside of that, there’s no judging of anything. A couple months ago, hundreds of teenagers went to and toured visit Chicago in the now mayor, then Mayor Alexa, don’t demonize the kids. I grew up poor
My first report, we didn’t tear up anything. And my dad wasn’t really involved, but I knew I would have held to pay for my mom, or my neighbor or some other male figure in my family or just a neighbor. There’s no consequence. And I think it starts with the parents when you weren’t that negative about parents. And you. I’m just curious why I don’t I don’t think when I’m not negative, I can.
As a teacher, I definitely be harder, or harder on myself. I think that parents now we know there are some we know there are some parents who honestly did not deserve to be parents should not be parents. That’s a conversation for a whole nother day. But I do believe that
we are trying, as best as we could, as best as we know how and as best as is what we have to do what’s best for our kids. Can we be better? Yes, that’s why that’s why I didn’t give any, that’s why they give the the, you know, the general rating of an A, there’s much more that we need to do, there’s much more that we can do.
Right now, there are millions of moms and dads about to become a parent for the first time.
I’m going to give you two senses,
to give them advice, and how to be the best parent they possibly can be based on your experiences. Extend your life to the senses for those parents who are watching this right now that to have a child for the very first time. Carla, I’m gonna start with you.
Um,
I would just say to spend time getting getting some resources to for parenting. I think that many of us think parenting is a natural thing, but there’s a lot behind it. And I have found that very helpful to get parenting education and resources reading and just get some some good resources that helped me face difficult times. Written Brittany, two sentences for new parents.
I would say making sure that you are going to therapy and you’re seeking wise counsel.
Yeah.
I would say have fun, enjoy the ride. And set boundaries are like
Cerrito
I would say listen to your children very carefully. Hear them. And don’t react fast.
Patrick,
make sure your kids know that you love them. And always encourage them to come to you with questions.
Eric,
loving communication and doing what you have to do as opposed to what you want to do. You have to be anchored in something greater than yourself. It’s got to transcend you. And also you’ve got to invest the time, and your family in boundaries and communication, all of those things that are important. You’ve got to invest the time. Jason
be humble and patient because you’re going to get a whole lot of conflicting advice, and you don’t know everything. And the second thing I would say is have relationships with your children individually, because that’s what really builds bonds and communication.
Lastly, make sure your child knows that you love them. And take the time to enjoy them when they’re young because they grow up so fast.
Being a good parent, and raising good children really is the toughest job in the world. But it’s also the most important. Let’s hope the people in charge are listening, learning and ready to lead. Unfortunately, that’s all the time we have. Next week, we’ll have part two of this fascinating conversation and this time, we’ll be focused exclusively on the education challenge. I’ve already heard some of it and it frightens me to say this, but the kids aren’t. Alright. Until then. I’m Dr. Frank Luntz. This is straight arrow news. Thank you for listening
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By Straight Arrow News
America’s parents are concerned that their kids are experiencing too much at too young an age in today’s media-obsessed society. After hearing from moms in the previous episode of America Speaks, political analyst and pollster Dr. Frank Luntz wanted to let dads weigh in, as well. The conversation reveals that many parents say raising children these days is harder than ever due to a myriad of factors.
In the series’ latest 39-minute episode, parents from different cities and backgrounds discuss their biggest fears about raising children, including bullying at school and online, rampant sexualization across popular culture and threats to traditional family values.
If you have children or grandchildren, if you’re an aunt or an uncle, or if you just have friends raising children today, that next few minutes may change your life. Here in America speaks, we receive such an amazing emotional response to our special session with moms acknowledging and often condemning the negative impact of social media on their children. It was so powerful that we decided to expand the conversation to dads as well, and expand the topic to all the challenges of raising children in today’s difficult environment. So for the next 35 minutes, and then again, next week, we’re featuring moms and dads just like you telling their stories and being the people in charge to listen up, pay attention, and partner with parents as they seek to do the toughest job in the world, raising good children. I’m Dr. Frank Luntz and you’re listening to American speaks right here, and straight our news. Let’s get right to the conversation. Over the last couple of weeks, we did a session just with moms about the challenges of social media and AI. And the response was overwhelmingly positive. And I was asked, please include dads as well. So we’re going to expand the issue to all areas of parenting. And EJ, let’s start with you. What is your single greatest challenge as a dad, making sure that my daughter knows what we believe as a family and why
Tammy as a mom, what you raise challenge, safety and bowl bullying that’s occurring in the schools that they’re at and making sure they feel secure. Maria, what’s your greatest challenge as a mom
is trying to keep my my son home and entertained instead of the streets.
They had to go to school, but they’re real quick to go back to the basketball court, being at the school and play for hours is just safety reasons and my neighborhood.
Laura, what’s your greatest challenge is a mom.
That’s making my making sure my children’s day innocent as long as possible trying to shield them from any corruption, whether it be educational or otherwise.
Jason, your greatest challenges is that
it’s the emotional and physical safety of my children by physical. I feel like the schools are more focused on protecting themselves first and our kids second. And I guess emotional is sort of they give them a short period of innocence before they get bombarded by the outside work coming in through social media and to their peers.
Thank you grace challenges as a mom, teaching them accountability and responsibility, and just combating the competing voices out there that are going against our family values.
When Grace challenges that
there are comfortable in terms of social media, I would say, monitoring what my children see, in terms of school, bullying, and
this test,
this testing culture where everything is built, is built around a test instead of preparing them as whole, as people see into the world.
Okay, let’s do it by show of hands, how many of you are truly afraid for the health and safety of your children? On a daily basis? Raise your hands. That’s a lot of you. So I want to I want to understand why Tammy, I’m gonna start with you, then Maria, then Laura. What are you afraid of, at this point in American life, about something violent happening to your child? I think because the media like really shows it a lot and they’re gonna see it somewhere. So it’s just a fear factor to instill in that. You know, that their safety protocols and it’s just a fear factor. I need to get them through.
React, Is it fear, or is it real, a real threat of violence? Well, it is a real threat every day is but they experienced the fear. So I tried to address it at home too and not just leave it up to the schools to do Maria.
My experience of an incident that happens behind my building having to do with the kids at school.
And
what happened
it was all over a girl but some kid came running behind him on one of the bikes the bikes with a broom, and he caught him off guard and he got him in a snack in his face.
And then he was hitting beating my child with that.
And, you know, kids were around and nobody would stop it. I mean, it was just crazy and how the school dealt with it, they didn’t exactly deal with it. And was anyone else in this conversation
had a child that was the victim of violence?
Well,
they were, they were not the victim, but they were next to the person that was. So I addressed with a school superintendent. And I, what it was is she has a best friend that is of, you know, a different color. And someone made a very bad remark about what they grew up as a cotton picker. And that really affected my daughter, and the school did nothing. They did absolutely nothing about it. Our parents come from more than a dozen states and from every occupation in every region of the country, some are financially comfortable, others financially challenged, but the greatest challenges you’re about to hear about are impacting children and parents everywhere. And some of those challenges are getting worse every day. Let’s listen in.
What is your greatest challenge in raising your child? Can we?
Can you think about the conversations that you have with your spouse or your significant other or your friends about the things that you
need to address in regards your children, but you have a just a very difficult time? Can you share with me those challenges? It can be anybody here? Jason, go ahead. And then Steven, and then Tammy, and I want everyone to come in.
Jason, go ahead. Yeah, our I guess one of our biggest concerns is it seems like a lot of sexualization in children’s entertainment even in like our daughters read voraciously. But even in some of the comic books and graphic novels, they want to get kids moved along that path of adulthood sooner. A lot of skimpy clothing, probably the market to young girls, especially I have two girls and a boy. And so we’re just noticing that just just like in the USA, consider prudish by the countries, but we have a heavy level of sexualization and our entertainment and marketing even towards kids. And we’re a military family and our public schools are, you know, about 40% of the kids, you know, in my son’s elementary school are from military families. So I think the culture is a little bit different than it is in most places. You know, we just, I don’t want to say we raise our kids differently. But how is it different? How is the culture different? Please tell us. So I we don’t have we haven’t experienced any issues with bullying, violence.
You know, most fathers or mothers or both parents, you know, I’m former military, my husband’s currently on active duty. I don’t want to see me raise our kids different, but there’s just maybe a different standard of expectations and discipline, that a lot of things you know, that maybe fly in some places don’t fly in the area that we’re in America, see you nodding your head. So normally, they don’t think it’s about to fall off. Go ahead.
What are our phones, very traditional, my wife from Colombia, they had a different upbringing, there and here, and it’s very tough for them. And so coming from a traditional family, ourselves, for her and for my family, try to really engage our kids like,
we feel it’s important like to stay away from a lot of the social media devices and a lot of like computers and such and just try to explain when you talk to one of the we talked to someone,
we want to look him in the eye, you want to make sure that you’re telling them the truth, that you’re when you’re talking to people that you’re accountable for what you say and do if you say you got to do something, go ahead and fulfill it. And if you can’t let them know why you can’t, I think a lot of what’s going on is
parents aren’t really engaging their kids to the way they probably should sometimes. And I think it’s very easy. And I see this all the time we’re out to dinner where our kids don’t have the cell phones and devices. We’re talking with the kid they’re doing the coloring, I’m working with the coloring on the you know, on the off garden or different places and you look over next to
the parents are on their phone and the kids are on their phone and no one’s talking. Like no one’s figuring out like, what they want for dinner. No one’s talking to the other child. How was your day today? You know, at school, you know? Do you have any challenges what happened to you like, if you’re not interested in what’s going on in someone’s life? It’s like that disconnect develops. What makes this session so powerful, is that I’m going to encourage you to explain not just how you think, but how you feel, and to provide some context, the challenges that we read about and hear about every day, but don’t always understand
it
So with that in mind, Brittany, what is the greatest challenge you have, as a mom, in today’s society?
I believe my greatest challenge is just the with social media,
the whole dynamic of the narrative, that that’s being painted. There’s a certain narrative with like sexual identity that is being placed on through the TV to cartoons through in the school system.
That’s, that’s one of my biggest challenges. And, you know, I believe that there should always be a choice, whether or not
if the parent wants to let their children you know, depend on to say, if, you know, if to explain, you don’t male and female, and all of that scenario and that perspective, but that’s definitely a big challenge, because it’s just being pushed as being pushed into media, it’s being pushed in the news. It’s being pushed in the culture of the world of society, period. How do you deal with these competing cultural values that are really sifting down to such a younger, young age than they used to? It isn’t like, seventh and eighth graders having, you know, initial debates now this first and second graders talking about politics and trans and gay rights and everything else. And that’s, that’s really hard to try and just explain what’s even going on first and second graders. Jason, you had your hand up? Yeah. In terms of the values, I would say, partly defensive teachers. And one of the things that makes parents is that the our
institutions to a certain degree are attacking the traditional family. And I will go with entertainment. Pick a comedy show, since you know, because we show the parents, especially the fathers are made to look like doofuses, and that goes from Disney to sitcom. Everybody Loves Raymond Oh, he provided for his family, but he can’t open the refrigerator door. You know, and so everything that they see is considered entertainment, makes the parents look like we’re the dumbest people in the world. Our children are the demographic that every business wants to capture. And they’re trying to get them earlier and earlier. They’re trying to get their data from social media and everything. And my wife and I haven’t completely cut them off. But mostly we don’t have TV anymore, and get our kids to read if they don’t have computers, but we control their access. And we make them go out and do things, even with their friends will drive them over to their friends hoping they can develop some good personal habits that will feed into their ethical values, like knowing how to handle conflict
stories anymore. Sorry, Frank. Okay, explain that you can take to the stores anymore. I mean, just like I mean, it’s been like this for a few years, we’re just like, go into Kohl’s into Target. And, you know, having to explain the minute you walk in the front and center, the, you know, transgenderism, you know, shirts, and gear and, and pride and this and that. And all these different aspects of we just can’t go in and shop without having to answer questions. And I mean, I’m fine answering questions. And we went to the point where, you know, we’re a conservative family, this is what we believe, and other people believe different things. But you know, why do we have to be put in that position now with our kids every time we go out in public to have to maybe explain something that they really don’t even need to be asking me about the age. I think it’s not Corporation’s job to tell me what my values are. Their job is to sell beer, their job is to be a retailer, it’s not their job to indoctrinate us in somehow, corporations feel that that’s their right right now. And I think that’s why there’s so much pushback.
Yeah.
Let’s say I’ve seen some of those messages in the public library. And as a result, even going to the library, which is an incredibly good thing. My wife sort of keeps my six year old back, I live in a predominantly African American, large county. And so they have like, when you go in store like candy in the candy aisle, they’re gonna they have shelves before you get to the main library, where they can promote the books that you know, generate a lot of questions will say some about race, gender, and all kinds of issues that seem less about learning and more about putting forth a illegible ideological front. My wife is from a communist country. So she has particularly sharp reactions to some of these things. But I even I see it in the library in terms of put displays to try to promote certain ideas to the forefront not just because then the books, but it’s not I don’t think it’s necessarily promoting right it’s questions are good
We should be encouraging questions, and we should be. And it’s got to be age appropriate, right? You need five year olds to be five year olds is somebody else said, for sure. But you want to encourage kids of all ages to have questions. And then as parents, I think, our challenges our biggest challenge, at least, I think it’s my biggest challenge is finding age appropriate responses to those questions. How do you put things in context? And so like, if somebody mentioned target, you know, yeah, sure, there’s a there’s a pride display up front, you can just say, hey, they like rainbows. And that’s all a five year old needs to hear, because they’re going to flit on to the next question, they’re not going to ask you detailed follow ups there. But if you’ve got a 10 year old, or a 12 year old, and you want to give a more detailed response, because they’re emotionally mature for it, then give that detailed response and encourage the child to ask the questions. But that’s not target indoctrinating anybody, Tanya, your question about selling merchandise, and that’s what corporations should do. They found an underserved market. And if they think they can hock more T shirts, by putting a rainbow display at the front of the store their targets, just trying to make a buck and Bud Light was just trying to make a buck by targeting an underserved market for their beer with that one, spokesperson. But the idea is that it should be on us on parents, I think, to give age appropriate response to those kids questions and redirect them to the values that we hold, whether it’s conservative, liberal values, but you can do that at an age appropriate age. I think that’s the challenge for parents.
The moms and dads in this conversation and talking about the challenges, the cultural challenges. Lastly, is it easier or harder to be a dad now than it was when you were growing up?
Definitely harder now. There’s just so much
input coming into the kids that are maybe not input, but
there’s just so much they have to deal with coming from one side from the other side, you got the social media, you have, you know, friends, you have teachers, the indoctrination of the schools, you have the advertisement at Target, it’s just overwhelming for them. And then we as parents have to come in and straighten it out for them.
EJ tougher harder as a father now than it was for your dad raising you.
I would have to say it’s tougher, I would have to say it’s tougher, simply because the issues have not changed. The issues have always been there. What has changed is the amount and the volume that these issues are given to our to my child, I can I should be able to go into a store and buy a quart of oil from a shelf at target without having to worry about whether or not I’m going to have a six year old asking me questions about why a rainbow is there.
That’s not it is the volume. And I think it’s the volume of the bombardment. And I think it’s also the fact that parents
parents, who feel either afraid or tired.
Worn out dealing with this. Some maybe some.
But I think that that’s the main thing.
When is it easier, harder on you to raise your child than it was for your parents to raise you?
i Excuse me, I think is it mostly harder? And we’re in this from difficult ask me, not just a dad, because it’s a parent period these days?
Am I gonna say so much about that is a bargain or indoctrination? I just think there’s so many ways that kids can get answers, having having a device, being able to access the internet, you know, all those different things. And it’s just on so many ways to get information. But is that information factual? Is it truthful? Or is it just someone sitting in there sitting in their garage saying, Oh, this is what I believe. So I want everyone to believe it.
In that sense, it’s much much more difficult. It is much much more difficult now to
you know, in my as a as a father, but just being a parent, in general. It is much, much harder these days. I want to ask some moms your back in Australia with you then then Cerrito and then Marie.
Easier, harder to be a mom today than it was for your mom. definitely harder.
My mom was a single parent. So she had hard and I, my husband, I’ve been married for 29 years. But we, it’s definitely harder because two things, there are the competing voices. EJ talked about it being the volume, you get more information at a faster pace, you’re getting it at an earlier age before you even know how to process it. But I also think there’s been a structural breakdown of the family over the last 40 years that’s contributed to it as well, you’re seeing more and more parents working out of the home, they’re working two and three jobs, they’re not as available to their children, they are giving them screen time, they are giving them more daycare, more after school clubs, more activities, so they are not spending as much quality time with them. In a treat. It’s tougher or easier. I agree with many of the other parents that it’s much tougher.
It’s just so much that children are exposed to and you know, as they get older, it gets much, much worse. And they have stuff that I sometimes find out things that my daughter knows, and I’m like, where did you find that? Oh, in school when I’m like, really? So it’s it’s just a tremendous amount of things that
children, teenagers are dealing with so much exposure to things that, you know, are certainly at times to me, and I think others will agree not even age appropriate that they even would know or hear about this particular subject. So I just agree that it’s much, much harder today.
A lot has changed since our parents were themselves kids, or has it. One of the most interesting moments in the session was when parents talked about their own childhoods, and how they were raised his kids and how that’s impacted them. Now that their parents today, let’s listen. How are you parenting differently than your parents did for you. And I got to ask, because my parents, I should not even say this because this will go public. But occasionally, my parents used to hit me. Once my mom wants to hit me and I grabbed her arm, that was the last time she ever did. And my dad never wanted to because he wanted me to hang out with him. He did not want to want to discipline me.
Who still
used
occasionally, you might hit your child to discipline them. Raise your hands if you did.
Quite a while back, but yeah.
So tell me about that. Because that’s always been a conversation. Is that the right thing or the wrong thing to do? And Steven, I’m gonna start with you. Yeah, for my kids are older now, you know, 1711 and 12. So I haven’t had to do for a while. And when I did do it, it was strictly just my hand. And only on the bottom, I never used weapons, I never hit him anywhere else. So it was enough to show Hey, I love you. But you’re going to feel a little sting at some discipline. So I was very controlled, much more controlled than what I got, and what my brother got, you know, for sure. But I think now, I started as tall as me. And so I wrestle with my play with him. And I have other ways of discipline that that are effective, you know, and also was very careful with my daughter, because I didn’t want to really, I was really worried about hurting my baby girl, you know, and being you know, a single parent, but also co parenting with their mother. That’s another dimension my parents didn’t have to deal with, which can be also be challenged, because you’re dealing with different households and different opinions on things and lacks lack of communication. My father was six to 325 from South Philadelphia, I got the look.
I never had to worry about much. Oh, when that looked down, I knew exactly where I stood. But now I don’t do that. I don’t have the look.
Or at least I don’t think I do.
But or at least let me say I would I like to try to think that I don’t.
But
when I deal with what I it’s the volume of information, and it’s having to rely on technology to be able to know where she is, and things like that. But let me go back to a previous question that you asked Frank. And is it harder or easier? And I got a chance to think about it as I was listening to everybody’s responses. How the the question that I think makes it so hard for parents today is how do you tell a child the truth in a culture that can’t even define what truth actually is?
How do you tell a child the truth? When the culture asks what is truth, but constantly constantly rejects the rejoinder and replaces truth with emotion.
They’re in love is the problem.
That is the best I have a list of questions. It will be
No question better than that one. The floor is yours, moms and dads, what’s your answer to that question any of you
I will jump in and just say that I, I give my kids truth. And I tell them where our source of truth comes from. And I will say, my kids are older, they’re I have four kids between the ages of 17 and 23. And so I’ve been doing this for a little while. But the biggest thing, it’s one of the challenges is not just teaching them our values and that truth, but teaching them how to stand there on their own with that truth, because the hardest thing sometimes for them, it’s going to be able to stand up and speak that truth to people who don’t want to hear it, who are hostile to it, who are going to persecute them for it. And so we don’t back away from telling truth. And we will, we acknowledge that a lot of people don’t hold to that truth. But this is why we do and this is that we try to give them the tools, and the confidence and the boldness to be able to do that. So that’s,
I think each family has their own truth. And many times truth is more about perspective. And again, it goes back to your upbringing, I’m from another country. So my truth is different than those that are raised here, you know, I have walked a different path in life, my education has opened the doors for truth that some people, you know, maybe don’t agree with. So true to me is relative, it goes back to that those things that you hold dear to your to your own experience, your own life, the values of your family and the identity of every family. On a personal note, those of you who have followed my career know, then in recent years, I’ve devoted myself to the passionate pursuit of the truth. So I wanted to know exactly how parents today are teaching the true to their children. And what I learned surprised me a lot. Let’s listen. We’re gonna teach our kids the difference between a fact and an opinion. You know, what, what is the objective truth, not just what someone identifies as or how they feel. And obviously, you have a truth based on one’s faith, but you also have just what is a fact what’s an objective fact that the sky is blue, or a man has this part, woman has that part, those sorts of things, but we are in society where we’re so hypersensitive to not offending because when you offend, then you can be canceled, you have a mob coming after you either virtually or figuratively. And that’s a problem, you know, because now everyone, because of social media, and a smartphone, everyone has a platform to the world, to have their opinion. So I think we need to learn to respect one another’s opinion. But also recognize what a truth is, because some people I think, use their feelings to get out of accountability. And even adults do this, you know, and I think we just have to have facts over feelings. So Brittany, and then Tanya, and then Laura, I want to focus just on this truth question. Because
not only do I think it is so powerful, but as a pollster, as a researcher.
This is not this is something I believe in on a personal level. But I don’t know. And I know how to do it on a professional level. But I don’t know how to teach it. And they don’t know how to raise children to be devoted to it. I need your advice, Brittany, Tanya, and then Laura.
Well, it kind of goes off a little bit, just piggybacking off of what what Stephen said, the difference between what’s fact and what’s based upon making decisions based upon emotions, or feelings. But I do think that it starts with us. First, you know, we are the first people the first influence that our kids see. So that’s based upon our healing. And, you know, have we taken those steps? Exactly, to to be able to be able to to influence or be able to show what our kids need to see from us. We should be the first influence first. And a lot of the someone said, No, I’m not sure who it was, but the structuring
of the over the last 40 years, with just the parents, the mom and the dad is has changed.
Yeah, I could piggyback on that real quick. That was what I was going to say, back, you know, when my kids were younger, you would send them to their room, they would think about it timeouts, whatever, now that they’re teenagers, you could still ground them and send them to the room but then you also got to have them come out and talk about the feelings and not just how they’re feeling but how the other person who is affected by whatever’s going on feels to if you just send your kid to the room and ground them. These days are way different because they’re just gonna rebel and they’re not getting out.
I’m how they’re feeling. So it’s just like, Oh, I’m not going to address it. That’s how I feel.
It’s the leader, I’m going to jump to you only because you’re nodding your head to that.
How do you handle the truth? In today’s more complex environment? Yes, I was shaking my head with what Tammy said, because having a 16 year old, you can’t just say go in your room anymore, you have to really discuss everything that you come in contact with, or what my child come in contact with. So because there’s so many things, and I don’t want her to rebel, I don’t want her to not talk to me. So I tried to say, Okay, let’s talk about it. Now, let’s, I want you to explain what you’re feeling what you’re thinking.
I’m gonna ask you by show of hands to grade, the average parent, not the people on the Zoom, not yourself, I want you to give the average parent a grade for how effective they are in parenting their children, you know, a is outstanding, B is very good. C is average, D is not failing, but not great. And f is failing.
Good give the average parent and a raise your hands.
Not one of you, that’s fascinating to me. Who give them a B
1234 of you who give them a C
123456. You give them at seven, you give them a D
123. And who give them an F.
So I’m going to ask the three Ds here, EJ, Steven and Wesley.
Why are you so harsh on other parents?
Because I’m harsh on myself in that regard.
Explain harsh on myself. In that regard. You’re going back to what I was what I was stated before. You look, truth by its definition is exclusive mystic.
It excludes what is false. And that is about as that is about as a hard concept as you want to run up against in postmodern culture.
And I think that parents, including myself, and I, and you know, with all the education that I have, I still struggle, and I still stay up at 345 o’clock in the morning sometimes wondering, Am I doing the right thing, and trying to inculcate
truth and love in my child. And even when I don’t have all the right answers, even when I know that the answers that I’m giving are correct, but they’re awful difficult for little ears to hear. And that does still keep me up at night. And I know there are a lot of parents who are awake right now in America who are whether it’s an Alabama or whether it’s an Oregon, it doesn’t matter it there are a lot of parents who are going and my father in law’s a fish farmer in South Alabama. I have people I have family who’s in buck, Lower Bucks County, Pennsylvania, we’re both we’re all doing the same thing. We stay up at night wondering and making sure that we’re trying to give the best answer to our children as we possibly can.
And Steven or Wesley, you give parents a D? Why so harsh?
Well, I will say first of all, sometimes I’ll even give myself a D on days where I feel like I’m failing. But when I say D, I’m looking at society in its totality. And I’m looking at all parents as an aggregate because let’s face it, some parents aren’t there at all they deserve an F, some parents, abuser, children, some parents do very horrible things. And if you want to put that in the aggregate of those who are A’s and B’s, you average out to a D me just look at society. Look at what kids are doing. There are a lot of derelict parents, a lot of deadbeat fathers aren’t involved, some of which are involved not because they don’t want to be because of others circumstances outside their control. But even ones who can’t be there don’t want to be there. So you the family has broken down and I think someone else mentioned that to a degree where there is no more shame and I’m not saying shame the judge on why that condemn but just shame as in, hey, you’re not doing something you’re doing something that’s hurting your family society, knock it off and get it right but because we don’t follow any objective truth anymore and his feelings over facts. No one’s judged, unless of course your political beliefs are different than your justice to kingdom come. But outside of that, there’s no judging of anything. A couple months ago, hundreds of teenagers went to and toured visit Chicago in the now mayor, then Mayor Alexa, don’t demonize the kids. I grew up poor
My first report, we didn’t tear up anything. And my dad wasn’t really involved, but I knew I would have held to pay for my mom, or my neighbor or some other male figure in my family or just a neighbor. There’s no consequence. And I think it starts with the parents when you weren’t that negative about parents. And you. I’m just curious why I don’t I don’t think when I’m not negative, I can.
As a teacher, I definitely be harder, or harder on myself. I think that parents now we know there are some we know there are some parents who honestly did not deserve to be parents should not be parents. That’s a conversation for a whole nother day. But I do believe that
we are trying, as best as we could, as best as we know how and as best as is what we have to do what’s best for our kids. Can we be better? Yes, that’s why that’s why I didn’t give any, that’s why they give the the, you know, the general rating of an A, there’s much more that we need to do, there’s much more that we can do.
Right now, there are millions of moms and dads about to become a parent for the first time.
I’m going to give you two senses,
to give them advice, and how to be the best parent they possibly can be based on your experiences. Extend your life to the senses for those parents who are watching this right now that to have a child for the very first time. Carla, I’m gonna start with you.
Um,
I would just say to spend time getting getting some resources to for parenting. I think that many of us think parenting is a natural thing, but there’s a lot behind it. And I have found that very helpful to get parenting education and resources reading and just get some some good resources that helped me face difficult times. Written Brittany, two sentences for new parents.
I would say making sure that you are going to therapy and you’re seeking wise counsel.
Yeah.
I would say have fun, enjoy the ride. And set boundaries are like
Cerrito
I would say listen to your children very carefully. Hear them. And don’t react fast.
Patrick,
make sure your kids know that you love them. And always encourage them to come to you with questions.
Eric,
loving communication and doing what you have to do as opposed to what you want to do. You have to be anchored in something greater than yourself. It’s got to transcend you. And also you’ve got to invest the time, and your family in boundaries and communication, all of those things that are important. You’ve got to invest the time. Jason
be humble and patient because you’re going to get a whole lot of conflicting advice, and you don’t know everything. And the second thing I would say is have relationships with your children individually, because that’s what really builds bonds and communication.
Lastly, make sure your child knows that you love them. And take the time to enjoy them when they’re young because they grow up so fast.
Being a good parent, and raising good children really is the toughest job in the world. But it’s also the most important. Let’s hope the people in charge are listening, learning and ready to lead. Unfortunately, that’s all the time we have. Next week, we’ll have part two of this fascinating conversation and this time, we’ll be focused exclusively on the education challenge. I’ve already heard some of it and it frightens me to say this, but the kids aren’t. Alright. Until then. I’m Dr. Frank Luntz. This is straight arrow news. Thank you for listening
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