Opinion9/2/2011

Protecting children from toxic education

byDale O'Leary

It's September. Students back in school and while parents may want to relax and hand their children's education over to someone else, they should not forget that they are the primary educators of their children. Given the proliferation of heretical ideologies at all levels of education, but particular in the universities, parents need to increase their vigilance when their children are in school.

In order to prepare our children, as parents and grandparents we need to be prepared and to that end I recommend several very readable books. The first is ''Dis-Orientation: The 13 'Isms' that will send you to intellectual 'La-La Land.'"

This is a collection of essays by noted writers, including George Rutler, Peter Kreeft, Donna Steichan, and Elizabeth Scalia, covering destructive ideologies rampant in our society, including Multiculturalism, Progressivism, Anti-Catholicism, Consumerism, and Modernism, the heresy of all heresies.

The chapters are short and the analysis clear and easy to understand. While the book is designed for college students, parents should read it first. It would be even more useful to introduce the material during high school. One exercise the family might engage in is to scan the news and identify the various ideologies. The internet daily news service LifeSiteNews.com is an excellent source for such an activity.

While ''Dis-Orientation'' is written from a Catholic point of view, there are several other books written from other points of view which also challenge the politically correct view of sexuality.

Wendy Shalit, author of ''A Return to Modesty: Discovering the Lost Virtue,'' is Jewish, but her insights into the systematic destruction of children's natural sense of modesty are excellent. I found the chapter on how her mother insisted that she not take sex education in the fourth grade extremely illuminating. Shalit enjoyed her exile to the library. She was not only spared the grossly age inappropriate lessons, she was also not subjected to the sexual harassment from male classmates which the other 4th grade girls were forced to endure. It appears that rather than promoting respect, the classes provided the boys with information they used to cruelly tease the girls. I am of the firm opinion that sex education classes, particularly co-ed classes in public schools are dangerous and parents should remove their children, citing religious objections. When my children were in high school, I discovered the nature of the sex education course and fought to have my children exempted. There were those who expressed concern that my children would feel stigmatized, but they all survived and thanked me afterward.

Another book I highly recommend is ''Unprotected: A Campus Psychiatrist Reveals How Political Correctness in Her Profession Endangers Every Student.'' Dr. Miriam Grossman, who counsels students at U.C.L.A., was so concerned that her message would jeopardize her position that she did not initially reveal her identity. The author of the book was listed as Anonymous, MD.

Dr. Grossman reveals how student physical and mental health services systematically deny students information about the risks involved in promiscuity; meanwhile campus health education insists on castigating smokers and those with poor diets.

"Inaccurate and ideology-driven 'health education' misinforms our sons and daughters, increasing their vulnerability. HIV is presented as an equal opportunity infection. Despite substantial failure rates, condoms are endlessly enshrined. Young women are led to believe that, like men, thy can delay childbirth indefinitely. The emotional consequences of STDs and abortion are downplayed."

While the politically correct campus health service stresses multiculturalism, diversity and tolerance, these do not apply to those whose religious beliefs do not support absolute sexual liberation. Dr. Grossman reveals how students who seek to live by the tenants of their faith face institutional discrimination.

Education is a precious gift, but given the climate on many campuses, every student needs to be armed against ideologies which can destroy their faith, and harm their physical and psychological health.

Dale O'Leary is an internationally recognized lecturer and author of "The Gender Agenda: Redefining Equality."