'Taking Back Our Homes'

Rebecca Hagelin of the Heritage Foundation recently spoke at Hillsdale College. She spoke on the vital topic of protecting our children from the poisonous toxins that our culture spews at our children and her talk was distributed by Hillsdale publication, Imprimis (you can get a free subscription to Imprimis here.)

Her talk is based on her recent book, Home Invasion: Protecting Your Family in a Culture That’s Gone Stark Raving Mad. I’ve taken excerpts from her talk and set them out below. After reading her comments, you may want to visit Barnes & Noble or Amazon.com to purchase a copy of her book.

Taking Back Our Homes
Rebecca Hagelin
Author, Home Invasion: Protecting Your Family in a Culture That’s Gone Stark Raving Mad

Home Invasion

Everywhere we go, from the grocery store check-out stands with their tacky women’s magazines, to the mall with windows filled with mannequins and photos of young women in their underwear, to the video store with ultra-violent and pornographic movies, to the sexually graphic books many public schools are using to “teach” our kids, our sensibilities are under attack.

But tragically, the toxic culture that is poisoning the hearts and souls of our families and our children isn’t just “out there.” Often times the American home has become the sump for cultural sewage.

It used to be that the home was the nurturing oasis providing relief from outside dangers. It used to be that a parent’s greatest worry was looking out for the guy in the trench coat lurking in the shadows at the edge of the school playground. Well, that guy in the trench coat is now in our homes.

Log on to the Internet. According to the London School of Economics, nine out of ten children who go online, usually to do homework, will stumble across hardcore pornography. Let me repeat: 90 percent of children will fall victim to pornography in their own homes. Chat rooms and sites such as MySpace.com have become playgrounds for sexual predators, often luring kids to situations of abuse and even death.

Tired of Internet porn? Turn on the television and flip to MTV. Why? It’s what your teenagers are watching. As a matter of fact, MTV is the number one viewing choice for teen girls. Today’s MTV programming is filled with reality-based shows that feature kids dressed in teeny-weeny bikinis licking whipped cream off each other. Or “pooh diving”—a “sport” in which teen boys swim in open sewers filled with human waste. Think the problem is just on cable?

Had enough Internet and television porn? Check out the video games our teen boys are playing. The second most popular of these games is Grand Theft Auto, in which the player actually becomes the character who steals cars, rapes women, has sex with a prostitute and then clubs her to death. And that’s not to mention the decapitation of policemen.

If that’s not enough, check out the books. Gossip Girls is one of the most popular romance series for girls ages 12-16. Published by Simon and Schuster, recurring themes are incest and graphic sex among children.

And then there’s the music. The number one music genre of choice for today’s youth of all races and socioeconomic groups is the often verbally pornographic and violent rap and hip-hop. [O]ur kids are consuming six-and-one-half hours of media every single day. And as I’ve described, the vast majority of it is sexual, violent, uncivil, and often plain stupid.

But what’s the harm? Isn’t this just entertainment? Well, let’s see. Corporations spend billions of dollars every year on advertising. Why? Because they know that media affects behavior. Today’s youth are the most marketed-to generation in the history of the world.

They are selling a “lifestyle” to our children that robs them of their innocence and their best futures, and capitalizes on the natural raging hormones that mark the teen years. Instead of helping channel that energy into worthwhile activities, the media fuels the flames in an effort to keep them tuned into the programming.

These marketers are teaching our young girls that their lives are all about their sexual power and our young boys that life is all about who can be more crudely funny or irresponsible. Sexual activity is expected and has no consequences. Civility does not exist. And the only brand of respect that’s taught is a twisted brand of “self-respect.”

Taking Responsibility

Before we point the finger at Hollywood, the government, or the business community for what is happening to America’s youth, we must look at ourselves. [T]he solutions to these problems do not rest in Washington, D.C. Most of the solutions can be found in active, loving parenting. It doesn’t take an act of Congress to take back your home.

Many parents are more concerned about being their children’s friend than they are about parenting. But kids don’t need more drifting friends; they need their moms and dads. The greatest gift we can give our children is to teach them that there is a God that loves them. We must teach them the two greatest commandments: to love God with all their hearts and to love others as they love themselves. And we must teach them to tell truth from lies, good from evil.

There are several practical resources available to help us make wise choices for our kids. But the best tool we can use is our expression of our love for them as people. And sometimes, that commitment is difficult. I know what it’s like to have my 13-year-old daughter look at me with tears streaming down her face and say, “But Mom, all my friends are going to that movie.” It rips my heart out. But in those moments, I sit Kristin down and I say, “You know what, Kristin? God made me your mom, and I love you more than anybody else in the world could possibly love you. I have to do what I think is best for you. Please allow me to be your Mom, allow me to love you, allow me to protect you the best way I know how. I might make mistakes, but as long as there is breath in me, I will be here for you.” And then, we always find something else to do that’s fun for her.

We must remember that our kids want us to be involved in their lives. They don’t really want or need another gadget or the hottest video game. What they really want is more time with Mom and Dad. They need us desperately, not to build walls around them that shut them off from the world, but to build within them a moral compass that will guide them when they go out into the world each day. Not only will they be spared much harm having this compass, but they will succeed better as adults. And maybe, just maybe, if enough of us commit now to taking back our homes, there will one day be enough adults to reclaim our culture.