OPINION
Happy Birthday, America. You’ve made it to 248 years old. Your birthday has always been so important in my family — the food, the fireworks, the fun. But, on this particular birthday, I am worried about you.
Age is a blessing, but facts are facts: You’re not aging as well as you could be.
I say this truthfully, with love, as a mom whose great-grandparents escaped persecution and fled to this great nation of ours when you were about 100 years younger.
They were grateful to become Americans and taught their children (my grandparents) to work hard in school and deeply appreciate opportunities and success you allowed for them.
I can’t help but think how shocked they would be if they saw what you are battling now.
Record numbers of young people are now being tricked into feeling ashamed of America by way of our own public education system.
According to a Morning Consult survey earlier this year, only 16% of Gen Z are proud to live here. The National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP, aka the "Nation’s Report Card") cites that only 14% of American students show proficiency in history.
An agenda for the 2022 Annual Meeting and Representative Assembly of the National Education Association (NEA) — one of the largest teacher unions in the nation — focused on "Palestinian Occupied Territory" and "students who need access to abortions" instead of academic benchmarks.
Black Lives Matter (BLM) directs Los Angeles Unified School District educators to lead students in marches, rallies, and social justice activities celebrating "globalism" and "transgender-affirming" causes for an entire week every February while statues and names of our Founding Fathers are consistently being removed from taxpayer-funded properties and schools.
Louisiana’s recent decision to post the 10 Commandments in schools is vilified.
What’s happened to true education, equality and inclusivity for all?
As hyperbolic as it still sounds to some, Marxism, socialism, and communism have infected our nation.
It’s not a work in progress, it’s here.
And, I can’t help but realize it’s our fault—parents in the thick of raising kids right now.
We’ve been distracted while taking our nation’s foundation, values, and God-given rights for granted.
How did our parents, and all of us, miss the memo that it’s our responsibility to keep the United States alive and well?
The majority of us have failed to actively raise what America needs from every generation in order to age gracefully: An appreciative, informed citizenry.
Former FBI special agent and author W. Cleon Skousen revealed 45 declared goals for the communist takeover of America in his 1958 book "The Naked Communist."
Among these goals:
No. 17: Get control of the schools.
No. 28: Eliminate prayer or any phase of religious expression in the schools on the ground that it violates the principle of "separation of church and state."
No. 30: Discredit the American Founding Fathers.
No. 37: Infiltrate and gain control of more unions.
No. 40: Discredit the family as an institution.
No. 41: Emphasize the need to raise children away from the negative influence of parents.
The bad news?
They’ve seemingly already been implemented in our social structure.
The good news?
There are few entities more powerful than parents. (See goals No. 40 and No. 41.)
No one can teach our children our values, foundation, fragility of liberty, and appreciation for our great nation (despite her flaws) as we can.
Parents must be assured, assertive, and immediate with our treatment plan . . . starting this Fourth of July.
How?
Gather your family and read the Declaration of Independence.
Next, read our Constitution. Lead your family in a short and fun, one-of-a-kind Independence Day Declaration Ceremony that teaches must-know American ideals (my kids love this tradition).
Dedicate 10 minutes a day this summer — with your kids (kindergarten through 12th grade) — to learning what freedom, equality, and patriotism actually mean in everyday life, with PragerU Kids’ "Red, White, and You" video-watching challenge.
Then, commit to reasonable patriotic education year round, in small but mighty doses.
We, the parents, must be stronger than the misguided folks implementing the 45 goals for a communist takeover.
If we aren’t, our nation won’t likely have many more birthdays to honor.
God bless you, America. On your 248th year, we will fiercely celebrate you with the same fun, food, and fireworks while also committing to the only remedy that will reverse and eradicate this most debilitating sickness attacking all of us.
We, the parents, must save America through teaching our children — about who she is, what she stands for, and why she must endure — on this most urgent Independence Day.
This is not a drill.
Jill Simonian is an outspoken California mom, television contributor, and Director of Outreach for PragerU Kids, which provides free, values-based educational content in history, civics, and financial literacy for students K-12.