Wake Up, Look Up

Hello, everyone, and thanks for listening to Wake Up, Look Up, a podcast where we connect events happening in real time to the gospel of Jesus Christ. I'm Zach Weihrauch, and in today's episode, we're asking the question, is your kids' school keeping a secret? This is prompted by something I read recently in the Wall Street Journal's editorial board about a federal judge who made a ruling in California that I think sounds like common sense, but apparently California needed to hear. And basically, California had a law that said schools were not obligated to inform parents when a child wanted to undergo gender transition. So you have a kid going to a California school who says, you know what? I was born a boy, but I really think I'm a girl. I was born a girl. I really think I'm a boy. And what schools would say is like, hey, that's your choice. We are not going to tell your parents. So if you want us to start calling you by a different name, using different pronouns, acknowledging you is a different gender, we will do that. We won't tell your parents, and you can deal with them at home however you want to. Because according to California, the schools had their own relationship with the child, and it was up to the child to determine if that relationship should or should not involve the parents. And it was this way, really, without anyone knowing it, until one case, one real case happened where a child attempted suicide. And as parents began to unravel what was going on in their child's life, what they found is that the school system for a while and had been encouraging this child's gender dysphoria, and that that was a key contributor to the confusion and mental and emotional health problems this child was having. As the parents further engage, what they found is that this stance, by California schools even went as low as toddlers. Toddlers who felt like maybe they were not the right gender were being encouraged to act and participate any way they wanted to, and the parents weren't being told. And what a federal judge said is that, and this is not a legal quote, bananas. Parents have the right to know what's going on with their child. Schools do not have a unique and private relationship with students. And I, just want you to think about what it would look like for another adult to say to you, hey, I just want you to know I have a relationship with your child. It's private and secret, and you can't know about it unless they want to share it with you. You would not only tell that person, no way. You'd Call the police unless that person apparently is the school superintendent of your kids school district. Listen, this is a drum I'm going to continue to beat on this podcast. Because children belong to God who gives them to their parents. Schools do not have authority, the government does not have authority over children. That that supersedes the God given authority of parents. It is parents to whom God says in Proverbs 22:6, train up a child in the way he should go. It is God who holds parents responsible for the way they raise their kids. It is God who gives authority to their parents. Listen, parents, if your kids are school age, I don't care what kind of school, they're going to pay attention, read the emails, show up at meetings, and even more have conversations with your kids. What's going on in school? What was the best part of the day? What was the worst part of their day? At any point in the day, did they feel uncomfortable? What's something surprising that they might think you don't know about school? Ask these questions, ask them over snack, ask them over dessert, take them for a walk. Because the truth is, I hate to say this, and look, my mom is a public school teacher. so many school teachers are incredible people, so many administrators, incredible people. But we can no longer default into trusting school systems. Twenty years ago, maybe your operating assumption could be that the people responsible for your child's education were people you could trust. People who shared a common sense worldview. Not anymore. Not anymore. They may be those people. I hope that there are those people. But you better do the work to find out. Or it might just be that you realize that for the last two years your child has been confused and deluded by people who have what I think is a pagan and demonic worldview. A worldview that will eventually lead to, at minimum, confusion and at maximum, even in this case, self confidence. Harm. Ask questions. Pay it. I know you're busy. I'm busy. Parents, we're so busy. I know work demands, marriage demands, I get it. But the problem and the potential for difficulty is too great for us to put it on autopilot. Ask more question. No one gets to have secrets with your kids or mine. They belong to God. He gave them to us. We gotta step up. Hey, thanks for watching this episode of Wake Up, Look Up. If you enjoyed it, please help us get the word out by sharing it with someone you think might benefit from it. And while you're here, make sure to subscribe to our YouTube channel to get further content or even download the CCC app where you'll find even more resources to help you grow in your faith and relationship with Jesus Christ.

Have an article you’d like Zach to discuss? Email us at wakeup@ccchapel.com!