Wednesday, September 17, 2008

Happy Constitution Day and Welcome to the Liberty for Kids Blog



What better day to officially start posting to a blog dedicated to promoting teaching children about constitutionally limited government and the ideas of liberty. Yeah, yeah, I know, to require government (public) schools to teach about the Constitution is probably unconstitutional but it is a good way to start the discussion. Since my children aren’t in the government schools, I have to admit I don’t really know what is being taught to meet the federal requirement. I can only assume it is not about limiting the powers of government through the Constitution as was originally intended. I would like for someone to correct me on that. Sarcastically I have to ask, “If a government school teacher were to teach about the Constitution would James Madison recognize it?”


But I don’t want you to think I am only going to be promoting constitutional government because this blog is more than just that. It is a blog committed to sharing the ideas of liberty. To that end, I will be commenting on children’s books, movies, music, and web sites as they promote (or assail) the ideas of liberty. This most likely will take the form of book reviews but I will, from time to time, post original material or non-copyrighted short stories. (I say “most likely” because I fully expect the direction and content of this blog to evolve as I get more into it.)


Since I have two daughters, I have given much thought about how to raise liberty-loving kids. I am sure most parents want their children to buy into and live by their values. In Christian families, the parents are reminded that if you raise your children in the ways of God then they will not depart from it. Of course all children will rebel to some degree, but the hope is that they will return to a solid foundation when they get older, especially when they have children of their own and wish to pass down morals and values to their children. I am sure socialist parents want to pass down their values to their children as well. The rub is libertarian and conservative parents have to contend with statist world views from media (in all forms) and schools. My hope is that in some small way I might help parents by being a reference for identifying sources that teach the ideas of liberty.


I hope you enjoy my blog and here is a fun quiz on the Constitution (click on image):







The average score is a little over seven; not too bad and probably better than David Souter would do.

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