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While there’s a growing political argument on the right that children must be protected from “indoctrination” by the government in schools, there is also news this week about the very real need for the government to protect children from exploitation, such as in a series of scary stories about child labor.
The two issues aren’t related, but they both speak to the involvement of government in the lives of US kids.
The conversation about protecting kids from so-called indoctrination has mostly played out in recent years in terms of Covid-19 restrictions that angered many parents and school curriculums that make some uncomfortable.
Virginia Gov. Glenn Youngkin rode a message of “parental rights” to victory in a battleground state in 2021, which has made him a much-discussed potential contender for the 2024 Republican presidential primary.
He’s one of a number of Republican governors who are focused on cleansing schools of history lessons about race that they find objectionable and making schools less accommodating of transgender students, although he was unable to get all of his proposals passed into law.
Watch: Youngkin will take part in a CNN town hall Thursday night. Moderated by Jake Tapper, the 9 p.m. ET program will give parents, teachers and community leaders the opportunity to ask the governor questions face to face.
Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis, another potential Republican presidential candidate, has a GOP-controlled legislature willing to do his bidding and has turned himself into a lightning rod by actively opposing what he says is “woke indoctrination” in schools.
At a news conference in Florida on Wednesday, he argued his administration is not banning certain books with graphic content, but…
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