Understanding Children Beyond Political Projections

This chapter explores how adult anxieties affect interactions with children, emphasizing their individuality and the importance of genuine engagement. It also addresses the role of education and resources in fostering children's awareness of socio-political issues and advocating for themselves in a complex society.

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But the parents? Meh.

When fascism rises, and some young people are drawn into its orbit, because everyone from Jordan Peterson to Andrew Tate has figured out how to exploit resentment at the failures of capitalism, we have an opportunity to give our kids a lot more than moralistic calls for a return to normalcy, compliance, warnings about screen time, striving to be better students, doing more sports, and not making too much of a ruckus (as Marco Rubio calls it).

The kind of parenting that limits itself to restoring the status quo for younger people in an age of fascism is not engaged parenting.

It’s not enough to be a good boy or girl. Antifascism takes more than that.

In this Part One, Matthew previews our main feed discussion of Adolescence (coming this Thursday), parses a speech by Gareth Southgate, wonders why Jonathan Haidt knows nothing about gaming, and remembers Sophie Scholl.