{"id":210,"date":"2026-06-02T07:39:48","date_gmt":"2026-06-02T07:39:48","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/urbaneconomynews.com\/?p=210"},"modified":"2026-06-02T07:39:48","modified_gmt":"2026-06-02T07:39:48","slug":"cultural-chaos-and-our-kids","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/urbaneconomynews.com\/?p=210","title":{"rendered":"Cultural Chaos and Our Kids"},"content":{"rendered":"
\n

Born in 1947, I was a baby boomer and fortunate to grow up in the 1950s. I was raised in a traditional two-parent home in Queens, a residential part of New York City. I could walk out the front door of my garden apartment and be surrounded by many boys my age. I had a typical childhood for that time, playing football without a helmet, wrestling with friends, and staying out without parental supervision until it grew dark. In school, I learned the ABCs, the 1, 2, 3s, and unbiased American history.<\/p>\n

Read more Two Democrats Battle for California Governor<\/a><\/p>\n

But now, times have changed significantly for the worse\u2014for both parenting and public schools.<\/p>\n

These days, helicopter parenting is the norm. Mothers and fathers have become overprotective and overinvolved, often micromanaging every aspect of their children\u2019s lives. While the smothering may be rooted in love, this hypervigilance severely hinders kids\u2019 development, and government snoops often get involved.<\/p>\n

In fact, things have become downright bizarre. According to a new Institute for Family Studies survey, an astonishing 58 percent of six-year-olds aren\u2019t allowed to play unsupervised in their own yards. Additionally, more than 50 percent of 14-year-olds don\u2019t have permission to leave their own streets without an adult present.<\/p>\n

Lenore Skenazy, an activist who advocates for free-range parenting and has been battling this mentality for years, is a true culture warrior. She recently shared a story that exemplifies the new normal.<\/p>\n

\u201cBeing allowed to walk home from the park is not neglect. And yet, in 2015, Rafi Meitiv, then 10, and his younger sister, 6, were doing just that. Child Protective Services was summoned to the Meitiv home.\u201d<\/p>\n

Now 21 and a college senior, Rafi describes what happened. \u201cThey threatened multiple times to take us away. They thought that my parents were dangerous and we\u2019d be better off someplace else.\u201d<\/p>\n

He thought he\u2019d never see his parents again.<\/p>\n

Rafi\u2019s mother, Danielle Meitiv, had read Skenazy\u2019s book, Free-Range Kids, and, as she does to this day, Danielle believes that parents deserve to \u201clet their children have their freedom, and it\u2019s developmentally important.\u201d<\/p>\n

Thankfully, the Meitivs were ultimately cleared of any wrongdoing.<\/p>\n

In a recent Wall Street Journal<\/em> op-ed, former U.S. Senator Ben Sasse further details the problem. He writes that at age 11, 25 percent of children aren\u2019t permitted to leave their homes without adult supervision.<\/p>\n

Sasse further notes that for children trapped in America\u2019s industrialized school system, too much of life is defined by passivity. Adolescence should be an exciting coming-of-age period, a gradual transition into adulthood. If we don\u2019t give teenagers more responsibility, we\u2019re failing to prepare them for the world they\u2019ll soon lead. \u201cRather than introducing children to the world in an age-appropriate manner, we\u2019re preventing them from developing imagination, resilience, and grit.\u201d<\/p>\n

While many kids are allowed to navigate the dark corners of the internet on their own, they are bizarrely prohibited from exploring their own neighborhoods. This overprotection, however well-meaning, \u201cprevents children from learning valuable lessons like overcoming boredom, conquering fear, and taking risks.\u201d<\/p>\n

And now the federal government has entered the fray\u2014this time in a positive way.<\/p>\n

The , a bill introduced in May by Utah Congressman Blake Moore, would require states to clarify that ordinary childhood activities, such as playing outside or even staying home alone for a while, are beneficial for kids and do not constitute neglect.<\/p>\n

Read more Feds Allege Taxpayer-Funded Los Angeles \u2018Peace Ambassador\u2019 Was Active Member of Street Gang<\/a><\/p>\n

At the same time that parenting has taken a bad turn, many schools have strayed far from their mission over the past several years, shifting from teaching basic skills to indoctrinating students with wacky, New Age, and Marxist claptrap that will not prepare them to be productive citizens.<\/p>\n

Although reliable statistics on the prevalence of school-based, politically driven schemes are lacking, the schemes themselves appear to be reasonably common. \u201cEquitable Math Instruction\u201d is still widely used and continues to shape many states\u2019 standards. Specifically, A Pathway to Equitable Math Instruction, a controversial toolkit, has sparked significant debate since its implementation.<\/p>\n

This radical drivel claims that addressing student errors, emphasizing getting the right answer, and requiring students to show their work constitute a form of white supremacy. Objectivity, you see, is now racist.<\/p>\n

Social-emotional learning (SEL) remains in use and is utilized by an estimated 83 percent of K\u201312 schools. However, it has become highly politicized, with several states pushing back or banning specific programs due to concerns about overstepping into personal beliefs.<\/p>\n

Then there is so-called restorative justice, which emphasizes \u201cmaking the victim and offender whole\u201d and involves \u201can open discussion of feelings.\u201d This nonsense arose because black students are far more likely to be suspended than students in other ethnic groups. The suggestion here, of course, is that white teachers and administrators tend to be racist. But the racial bean counters never explain why the even in schools where black principals and staff predominate.<\/p>\n

Additionally, various sex-related themes persist in many schools.<\/p>\n

A good example is California, where AB 1955 was enacted in July 2024. This outrageous legislation bars school districts from requiring staff to notify parents if a student decides to change their gender. (At this time, the law\u2019s legality is being debated in court.)<\/p>\n

In a similar vein, the San Francisco school district has determined that teachers don\u2019t need to\u00a0notify parents\u00a0before teaching lessons on gender identity.<\/p>\n

In America\u2019s heartland, the Turner School District in Kansas City, KS, allowed a four-year-old preschooler to take home\u00a0Jacob\u2019s New Dress<\/em>, a picture book in which \u201ca little boy wears girls\u2019 clothes\u00a0and even competes with his friend Emily to be a princess.\u201d (It\u2019s no secret that LGBTQ groups are pushing gender-identity dogma on schoolchildren nationwide, and the government is often complicit.)<\/p>\n

Children are the future of America. Unless we change course, the country\u2019s future is imperiled. Parents must return to traditional parenting and stop constantly surveilling their children. Schools need to return to teaching the basics and abandon the harmful fads that have gained steam in recent years. And we must do so posthaste.<\/p>\n

*\u00a0*\u00a0*<\/p>\n

Larry Sand is a retired classroom teacher with 28 years of experience and served as president of the nonprofit California Teachers Empowerment Network from 2006 to 2025. He currently works to raise awareness of the shortcomings of our education system.<\/em><\/p>\n

Read more Judge Orders Trump Name Removed From Kennedy Center<\/a><\/p>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

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