Protecting our children’s innocence

As a parent and grandparent, I’m concerned about keeping children safe. But the cry “What about the children?” has resulted in many types of horrible behavior, from misconduct by youth sports leagues to genocide. Today, repressive legislation comes in the guise of “protecting our children’s innocence.” What does this mean?

When we first look at our newborn child, we see this fragile, unaware person who depends on us for all their needs. We want to shield them from the world. We don’t want them to feel scared and unsafe. We don’t want to expose them too quickly to ideas they’re not ready for. But we also want to shape them into the type of people we want them to be. We want them to have values we consider good, believe the same things we believe, and like the same things we like. If you’re a Dodger fan, you want your children to grow up to be Dodger fans. If you’re Lutheran, you want your children to be Lutheran. And if you have certain beliefs about the world, you want your child to have them too.

But life gets in the way.

There are news events that impact your children’s lives, like the pandemic. Your children will meet people who differ from your family. They may have different ethnicities, beliefs, and lifestyles. They may be richer or poorer than you.