Politics the Homeschool Way
By Jessica Hulcy
Printed in PHS #7, 1994.
While not all of our readers are called to devote significant time to political activity, and some have convictions against it, those who do want to get involved politically often wonder how they can possibly find the time, and what difference they can possibly make.
PHS columnist Jessica Hulcy, best known for her co-authorship of the popular KONOS unit-study curriculum, has faced and solved these problems. Though she is too modest to tell you herself, Jessica has become influential in educational and moral reform efforts at the state level. Meanwhile, she continues to create KONOS units, speak at homeschool meetings, and homeschool her children!
Editor's note: Homeschoolers can find many of the campaign techniques Jessica's family used in a revised Elections unit in KONOS Character Curriculum Vol. II.
A movement is afoot in America to completely change America's government from a Constitutional Republic to Fascist State. You probably know of programs that are presently restructuring education, but a movement to restructure the U.S. government . . . you're kidding!
Webster defines fascism as a "government that advocates a dictatorship through the merging of state and business leadership." By that definition, America is almost a fascist state now. The proposed health care package is definitely a merger of state and business.
Though not a dictatorship yet, we are rapidly moving toward control of the American people by a select elite. How could anyone who loves freedom not be involved in trying to stop this sinister movement? And yet, how could anyone who is wife, mother, homemaker, and homeschooler possible find time to be involved in politics?
How to Schedule Politics Into Your Life
We don't have to "find time" for politics -- we have to "make time." Just as the Israelites planned battles for the spring, plan your school year around your participation in political battles by scheduling heavy academic activities during the non-political season. Realize such battles have been raging since the beginning of time, and you could easily become a full-time warrior forsaking your home. Do what you can for a limited season and then stop.
If you have an ongoing political commitment, set time aside to accomplish the task in bite-size pieces on a daily or weekly basis, but don't let politics rule your life.
Train Your Child in Leadership
Train your children in the vision and the process of affecting change. We parents get involved in politics to leave a better world for our children as well as to act as a model of responsible citizenship. When our children also get involved in politics, they learn the skills necessary to affect change in their future world. This dual purpose allows homeschoolers to kill two birds with one stone: change the world now while training your children to change the world of the future.
Children learn to think politically, as well as to discern political issues, by attending political speeches, meetings, and conventions with their parents. Our family jumped right into controversy when we took our children to Dallas City Hall to protest the proposed preferential recruitment of homosexual policemen. Only we parents had signed up to speak, but before we knew it, our teenage boys were speaking. In such arenas children learn how to discern and how to have the courage of their convictions.
Three years ago I, along with many other homeschoolers, became heavily involved in the election of a Congressman. Faced with the high cost of direct mailing to the district and wanting to get our candidate's name before the people, our children replaced the U.S. mail system. With home-made fliers in hand and six roller-bladed kids to a car, homeschooling kids blanketed precinct by precinct. P.E. was combined with political action daily!
Our kids also hammered in signs, helped host money-raising events, and even wrote mock letters to the editor.
When our candidate was elected, a most incredible bonus followed. Aware of the work so many had put into his campaign, Congressman Sam Johnson chartered a plane to fly to his swearing-in ceremony in Washington D.C. Aboard that plane were 50 homeschoolers. What a field trip!
Use Your Talents Effectively
Three years ago a group of like-minded women started a Republican women's club. It has grown to be the largest women's club in the state of Texas, almost 500 strong. Our purpose was to show mothers who had no time to invest in politics but who cared about the future of this country what they could do to affect change. This fall we will invite women throughout the state to an information meeting explaining how to start a club like ours.
I recently filmed a video on how to run a campaign with little money and zero organizational help. Creating a how-to video was a much better use of my talents than offering to type or to bake cookies.
Right now the best use of my talents is helping train others. Years ago with all toddlers, I could not have done this. There is a season for everything.
Maintain Your Priorities
Politics, or any other work for the Lord, can destroy a home, if it is allowed to get out of balance. "Balance" is the key word. Remember to put the Lord first, husband and children second, and politics third.
There are so many battles to fight. We often feel like Indiana Jones in "Raiders of the Lost Ark" surrounded by cobras with nothing but a blow torch to stave off the enemies, yet the eternal perspective is that God is in control. Remember the acronym SET. We are to Stand for truth, Expose evil and Teach truth. If we do these things, the rest is in God's hands.
For more resources on this article's topic, click the link(s) below.
Government Resources - Curriculum
Unit Study Resources - Curriculum
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