This has a whole satanic panic feel about it from people who should know better.
This has a whole satanic panic feel about it from people who should know better.
You response beggs a really interesting question: where do new ideas come from and how do they spread in society. It is clear that there are generational difference in opinion that change over time, so kids get new ideas somewhere. Clearly their friends and the media are a big part of it too, but where do those opinions come from?
I think education is a big part of this, even if it isn't always overt (sometimes it is). If most of your teachers buy into a specific ideology, that certainly colors what they teach. If you are teaching soft subjects like literature, history, ect, there is a lot of subjectivity in how to interpret things and frame them.
For the overt stuff, my friends 2nd grader recently became obsessed with climate change. Their teacher had them making protest signs and marching around the elementary school, and now they ridicule gifts that aren't eco friendly and think the world is doomed. While I believe in climate change, I think it is a complex topic that most adults fail to comprehend, let alone a 2nd grader.