Go, Army!

Our family LOVES football.  We would happily watch a football game in the rain, in the snow, in freezing temperatures.  But, heading to West Point on a crisp Fall day to cheer for young people who will be off to serve our country in the Army (some within a matter of months) feels like more than just a fun Saturday. It feels like an honor.

I am always moved by the cadets who stand for the entire game.  The national anthem rings truer as you’re looking at all those young faces who put country above self. I know patriotism has gone out of favor in certain circles, but I still believe in the ideals of our nation. I think ideas like free speech, freedom of religion and a robust free press make us exceptional.

As you consider your values in raising your children, what do you want them to see? When they are a part of events that honor our country (a Memorial Day parade, 4^th of July fireworks, or maybe even an Army Football game), they feel America as part of themselves.  They innately understand their responsibility to make it a better place.

In recent decades, our educational system has promoted many criticisms of America. Your children will come home from school and share all the ways that America is terrible. Although I am profoundly in favor of teaching children critical thinking, I also think we need to be careful of pushing adult analysis on impressionable minds. I worry they internalize these critiques (since they are American, after all) and they see themselves as bad people or racists or oppressors. In fact, kids are very rarely any of these things…in their hearts, kids are good and accepting and kind.

So if you intend to live in America and raise your children here, it may help their self-worth to show them the positive side of America too – let them know that being American can and should be a source of pride – not because our country is perfect, but because our personal freedoms protected under the constitution give each individual a chance to improve our nation.

Expose them to people and experiences that show Americans behaving in admirable ways: charitable Americans, inclusive Americans, brave Americans, kind Americans, courageous Americans, and loving Americans. Start in your own home and work from there.

Are you humming a little Lee Greenwood yet? God bless the USA.