Anonymous wrote:Your freshman son's dive into Charlie Kirk isn't a shock; it's a sign of awakening. Instead of being dismayed, celebrate his critical thinking and engage with his college alternatives—trade schools, entrepreneurship, or even starting a movement.

Yeah, 'cause college is evil.

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Anonymous wrote:My 2 teen sons (DC schools) live Charlie Kirk.

And frankly the more I listen to him, the more I do too.

What are his best arguments about college and what are the biggest flaws in his arguments about college?

PP again. I don’t know. I’ve never heard Kirk speak about this topic. I just like his conservative, religious, pro- American stance.

Then who needs college. Because not getting a college education is conservative, religious and pro-american? Okay sure. That makes so much sense.

That'll be news to all the Catholic colleges in America. lol.

Catholicism isn't really a part of the conservative Christians. They use the Catholics when it's convenient - like overturning Roe v Wade. But the Catholics will be the next on their list to condemn and discriminate against once they don't need them anymore.

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Anonymous wrote:Don’t let your kids read conservative stuff!! It’s filled with common sense & practical solutions!!

I've been listening Charlie Kirk and a bunch of conservatives trying to understand them, but they are all full of nonsense. I would love to find one with common sense. Please share some pearls that I may have missed.

And the ads. Wow, the ads are so terrible for obvious scam products.

Conservative ideology is basically the following:
Say something morally gray/abhorrent, introduce some dogwhistle, claim the left is racist and some other ist for “obsessing over race,” and then claim your just speaking common sense and those who disagree are radical leftists.

I’ve been watching conservative content for a decade now, and so few don’t pull this shtick, it gets so tired. No you aren’t the party of “common sense.”

Agree.
Republican party is the party of fear: instilling fear in others; fearing they will lose their superiority/power/control/masculinity/dominance over women.

Anonymous wrote:I am a cradle Catholic who can't stand Charlie Kirk. I'm tired of this toxic reactionary white male grievance nonsense being directed at my teen sons. You're lucky that you caught it early. I know someone whose son is involved in Turning Point. It's a cult, really bad news.

+1
Ditto!

Anonymous wrote:Who reads in paper anymore?

I do.

Anonymous wrote:I am not Kirk's fan but he does have some good points about not going to college and racking up student loans debt. Several of my family members attended Ivies as full-pay, majored in social studies and graduated with 300K of student loans. They are social workers and are on a income payment plan.

College is not for everyone.

That's fine; but there are many other sources that can support that point.
And nobody has to go to an Ivy League and go $300K into debt to get a good college education. Community college, other public universities - even part-time while working and earning money and experience.

No, everyone doesn't need a 4-year degree to be financially successful and independent in life. Still, there's a better approach to the "all or none" argument about college. Why does it have to be college or no college? How about emphasizing the fuller range of options, including SOME college - like a 2-year degree even if your career choice out of high school doesn't require even that? We used to value education for the sake of education in this country. Now it's just about $. You DO understand why the Republicans are happy to de-emphasize education and especially college education? No, it's not because of "indoctrination." It's because college-educated individuals are more aware, better understand nuance, think more critically, think more beyond themselves and their own little bubble and therefore are more knowledgeable VOTERS. They don't WANT educated voters. The original purpose of public education in this country was to develop and EDUCATED ELECTORATE. That is precisely what the Republican party does not want.

Anonymous wrote:Kirk is a grifter. Your kid risks losing his motivation by listening to him. Try and have your kid also listen to some other voices that are smarter - Pete Buttigieg, Trevor Noah, Fareed Zakaria, John Stewart, Hasan Minaj, etc.

My goal is to expose my son to a variety of smart, thoughtful, funny male role models and we debate and discuss viewpoints as a fam.

Charlie Kirk is not that smart and a grifter. He makes a lot of lazy arguments that are easy to discount.

I agree with PP's premise of exposing your son to more sources. But the flaw in PP's comments is that all the alternative sources offered are one-sided polar opposite of Kirk.
Use https://mediabiasfactcheck.com/
Have your son use it and read what it says about the various sources. Help him read different sources keeping those biases, reporting accuracies, and credibility in mind.
Also, https://www.readtangle.com/ which presents multiple sources from both sides of an issue and
https://san.com/ which strives to be a neutral reporting source, covers more stories than the same old 3 the main media beat to death, and is enlightening about what news is and is not reported by each side -- which emphasizes the fact that we're not all getting the same news and therefore are forming opinions based on different portrayals of world events.

Anonymous wrote:My 2 teen sons (DC schools) live Charlie Kirk.

And frankly the more I listen to him, the more I do too.

This is the danger people like him pose. The Kirks and JD Vances and such are intelligent and articulate. And they adeptly conceal their underbellies.
They say things that on the surface or on their own sound quite reasonable. It's the parts of their beliefs and agendas that they DON'T say that are the problem.
"Very fine people."

Anonymous wrote:My wife was cleaning our son's room, lifted up the mattress to make the bed. Found a bunch of Charlie Kirk and Michael Knowles material. Boys will be boys, but this?

Young men and young boys are the precise target of the Charlie Kirks et al of the world. This is why they are such an insidious element in our current world not to be dismissed.

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Anonymous wrote:So he can read it and weigh if it holds up or not.
Open a conversation about it sometime. Ask child to point out its best arguments and its biggest flaws.
Critical thinking will be good for them. (Not saying Kirk is good, but many perspectives.)

I think this is being way too generous about what a pile of garbage this dude pedals.

However, there is value in reading garbage learning to identify what unstated insecurities, fears, desires is the book trying to hook into, what type of person is drawn to this vs repelled by this, what blatant inaccuracies do you see yet want to pass over, why do some people find this appealing…
Hate and bigotry sells now better to understand why and actively work against than ignore it hoping it goes away.

Look at it as opposition research.

OP, heed PP's comments and incorporate them into a broader parenting plan. Be careful not to just criticize or name-call Charlie Kirk and Turning Point -- be neutral about explaining who he is and what the organization is and just as calmly emphasize your opinion, your (hopefully both parents') values and why you think a college education is beneficial, if not important or critical.

And if you can reveal anything that discredits Kirk and his ilk, throwing that matter-of-factly would be great.

FWIW, I tried to emphasize to my non-school-oriented kid that, to me, college is not just about getting a job. College is about being a well-educated individual with a good knowledge base and understanding about life via history, culture, etc. It's about personal development and being a better citizen/voter because you have a broader worldview and understanding of issues, particularly in the context of history and culture. And even if you don't think you need college now, having that additional period of growth and that degree will leave more doors open. Or it will reveal new interests and talents he's not currently aware of.

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Anonymous wrote:Don’t let your kids read conservative stuff!! It’s filled with common sense & practical solutions!!

The daily parade of incompetence and stupidity of this administration would suggest otherwise.

Why was this bunch of allegedly stupid people able to close the same border your moron left wide open?

Anonymous wrote:Your freshman son's dive into Charlie Kirk isn't a shock; it's a sign of awakening. Instead of being dismayed, celebrate his critical thinking and engage with his college alternatives—trade schools, entrepreneurship, or even starting a movement.

LOL. My god. You’re going to advise your son to skip college??? What about your daughter?

Anonymous wrote:Kid is a HS freshman. Caught him reading Kirk’s College Scam book. I asked him about it, and he said he is questioning the whole idea of going to college. I am shocked. The plan was for him to always go to college.

YOUR plan was always for him to go to college. Let him not go. Then he can find out.

Anonymous wrote:I am not Kirk's fan but he does have some good points about not going to college and racking up student loans debt. Several of my family members attended Ivies as full-pay, majored in social studies and graduated with 300K of student loans. They are social workers and are on a income payment plan.

College is not for everyone.

This is why families have been crying for Congress to DO something about the college loan crisis.

Shameful Charlie Kirk is telling kids to skip college. He should be pushing Congress to address funding college or lowering interest rates instead. What a jerk.

Anonymous wrote:Don’t let your kids read conservative stuff!! It’s filled with common sense & practical solutions!!

Reading actual conservatives thought pieces is a good idea for anyone who wants to be well-educated, regardless of their personal ideology. But MAGA isn’t conservative and Charlie Kirk is hardly a thought leader.