Kirk Cameron blasts public schools for 'grooming' kids
The award-winning actor discusses the decline of public education and his upcoming movie 'The Homeschool Awakening.'
Award-winning actor Kirk Cameron blasted America's public schools for becoming breeding grounds for far-left progressive agendas, including critical race theory, Nikole Hannah-Jones' 1619 Project, and gender ideology.
"The problem is that public school systems have become so bad. It's sad to say they're doing more for grooming, for sexual chaos and the progressive left than any real educating about the things that most of us want to teach our kids," he told Fox News Digital. The solution to the problem, he said, was for parents to take the lead on their children's education and teach them at home. To make the case, the award-winning actor referenced his upcoming movie, "The Homeschool Awakening."
The movie follows the journey of about 17 homeschooling families who respond to misconceptions and stereotypes. In the film, Cameron also discusses his journey to homeschool his six children with his wife, Chelsea.
Kirk Cameron and Chelsea Cameron in "The Homeschool Awakening," which will be released on June 13 and 14. (The Homeschool Awakening)
Cameron's father, grandmother, and grandfather were teachers. He stressed that there are many excellent teachers in the U.S., but the school system is holding them back from being a "light in the darkness, [and] to pass on the kinds of values and virtues that made this the freest, strongest, most prosperous nation in the whole world."
HOMESCHOOLING SURGE CONTINUES DESPITE SCHOOLS REOPENING
Cameron takes issue with the perspective that a child's education should be left solely to the so-called experts, without parents' input. "And that's just a fundamental difference in the way that we look at. Who has been entrusted with the sacred responsibility of raising our children? Is it the parents or is it the government?"
He went on to strongly criticize "those who are rotting out the minds and souls of America's children" and said they were "spreading a terminal disease, not education."
Kirk Cameron speaks with Fox News Digital about what he calls the left-wing indoctrination in public schools. (David Livingston/Getty Images | Robert Gauthier/Los Angeles Times via Getty Images)
"And you can take your pick. Just go down the list. The things that are destroying the family, destroying the church, destroying love for our great country: critical race theory, teaching kids to pick their pronouns and decide whether they want to be a boy or a girl, The 1619 Project," he said.
Cameron said the "genesis" of creating, what would become a project that spanned over two years, was the novel coronavirus pandemic. At that time, he said, parents were finally starting to see the things schools were teaching their kids.
"If we send our children to Rome to be educated … we shouldn't be surprised if they come back Romans," Cameron said. "If we want them … to love God and love their neighbor and feel gratitude and thankful that they live in the United States of America, the freest country on earth, then you've got to teach them those things … I realized that there was no better way for our family to do that … then to bring them home and join in with this rich, robust community, with tons of curriculum to to to be able to have the flexibility and freedom to raise our kids the way we wanted them to be raised."
Kirk Cameron's "The Homeschool Awakening" movie discusses 17 families who have decided to homeschool their children. (The Homeschool Awakening)
"Homeschool was not on our radar screen because we had these misconceptions and stereotypes like so many people do. Like, you know, that's for like Quakers and the Amish, and how could you possibly teach your kids enough so that they get into college? What about socialization?" Cameron said. However, after going through the process, Cameron learned that his children were able to socialize with people of all ages, and that the world was his kids' classroom.
Parents Brent and Jenn Nims appear in "The Homeschool Awakening." (The Homeschool Awakening)
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"When you're together as a family … you're able to travel, … [and] you're not locked into a schedule that everyone else is locked into, … you can discover your own individuality and uniqueness … And it really lends itself to a healthy, flourishing community in your home," he said.
Family goes cliff jumping in "The Homeschool Awakening." (The Homeschool Awakening)
"Yes, there are hard days. Yes, there are times when you just feel like pulling your hair out. But it's nothing compared to wanting to go back and do it all over again. If you see that your children went down a road and you can't pull them back, [asking] how did they lose their faith? How did they get pulled into an ideology that undermines everything that is going to lead to their success?"
"They learn to reject a God, … they learn to reject our country. And how did that happen? Well, that's the kind of regret that we don't want as parents. And so if we're willing to put in some extra effort and time now, we will be so glad that we did and will lift our hands in gratitude and say, ‘Thank you that I woke up and I saw the light.’ And millions of parents are."