What this Substack is all About
Western Civilisation and our Kids
This Substack is an attempt at gathering resources and then shaping a useful formula for home schooling Western Civilisation for kids aged 11+.
It’s become a personal passion. Usually in the quiet of early mornings or late late at night in my pjs with a coffee or a tea in hand. The objective here is to create opportunities for learning and undo the damage being inflicted on young minds spoonfed them by a negative education system and broader culture.
The ultimate objective is for kids to value their own history and understand how we came to live the lives we do and what will be lost if we fail to protect it. To foster courage and pride in who we are and an attachment to something clear bright and aspirational in the country we call home.
None of this is being taught at school. And it will take years to be tackled by politicians. So it falls to parents to emphasise and debate the basics.
A brief short story. In my own 90s education history was poorly taught. Against a background of growing Americanisation this also meant my own culture being very skewed. A small example of this is American movies regularly cast Britain as the enemy, shaped historical narratives to an anti British tune and so the general consensus was ramped up of Britain a spent pathetic nasty force and America as the beacon of everything good. Watching the steady flow of influential music, political narratives and identity trends make their way across the Atlantic I am not sure how I feel about this. What has American civil rights to do with us? And yet - in school this is precisely where the emphasis is placed. History classes in school in my education had an even deeper hostility and fully anti British and Marxist bent.
The result was a feeling that there was precious little to be proud about.
Now fast forward to 2024 where we have similar threads running through education and a heavily multi ethnic make up. These different cultures are taught and expected and encouraged to value theirs above anything British. We celebrate every other cultures positivity and pride except our own. Is it any wonder hostility grows and society fragments further and further. There are now developing political arguments around multi culturalism and the appalling sectarianism it fosters. Huge worries for our Parliament some of which are now bearing rotten fruit.
There is also a deep sense of alienation among young people. This in turn across the West is also steadily becoming anti HUMAN. Apportionment of blame hostility and some kind of debt we owe to a hopeless and negative future our kids look towards.
The dynamic of our moment is overwhelmingly one of disintegration – the end of confidence and courage
It’s a huge topic! This is not at all an easy thing to undertake when parents rely on school, are busy, have myriad challenges preventing home schooling especially financial and are not as risk embracing in an age of relentless negativity and worry.
Nevertheless as I start this project Nigel Farage has just delivered a well timed video message to emphasise how important it is.
Undoing the Rot in Our Kids Education
We have a huge challenge which we simply are not facing up to in the West:
Courage in this sense is the basic conviction that our Western way of life might be worth continuing with. It is what Kenneth Clarke calls in his famous documentary the ‘loss of confidence’. The West looks lost, leading to a rot which extends from the military to academia. Europe’s barebones armies reflect more than a naive optimism that war is a thing of the past – they speak to a sense that, if it came to it, there would be little point in fighting anyway. This rot – the loss of courage – has many component parts.
But at the heart of things is the conviction that there is nothing particularly special in the civilisation we call Western. A whole industry exists in academia to demonstrate that there is actually no such thing as ‘Western’ civilisation – everything we call Western is just borrowed or stolen or copied from elsewhere. A darker current insists that whatever might be Western is probably evil – from the industrial revolution which merely polluted the earth to forms of democracy and pluralism which were just a cover for all kinds of exploitation.
There is plenty therefore to discuss with our kids. And plenty being stripped out of the curriculum all the time. The Anglo Saxons are also not studied in Key Stage 1 2 or 3 in any remotely meaningful way. The history I’ve seen my twelve year old study concerns benign nice-to-knows such as food clothes and housing and some arbitrary facts. There is nothing inspiring in it at all which connects us and by the time they head towards GCSEs the opportunity to make periods of crucial history resonate more deeply and fascinate profoundly with an age group that loves myths and stories and battles is completely lost. As they get older the cynicism towards Britain is heavily nourished by The Culture and then it’s too late.
Resources in the culture are often embued with negativity towards western culture overall, thoroughly anti Christian or reductive of it and highlight precious few redeeming features of British history in particular.
Enter Substack
Substack has a wealth of great resources and feels like a wonderful opportunity.
People’s interests opinions and research offers way more breadth and depth than anything available elsewhere whether the person writing is academic, a hobbyist or simply exploring something worth writing about - it’s a great place to start. Loads of fascinating and inspiring pieces are scattered all over the place.
Hopefully I can curate the best of them and highlight them here. Along with some recommended kids books, cartoons, some history programming ex Substack and more - such resources can be absorbed here as a start.
The intention is to then shape these into a useful “out with your kids” resource or bedtime reading or dinner time resource which can open up a chance to learn facts and ask questions about wonderful (in its truest meaning) Western and specifically British culture and the Christian faith central to it.
All this can encourage the use of kids critical thinking skills.
Explore themes which crop up all the time now for our kids from “Trump is building a wall” to “Hard Right” to “cost of living crisis” to whether Twitter is a force for good or evil - and in doing so encourage them to not simply accept The Consensus shovelled down their throats at school and beyond but question all of it.
I truly believe there is an appetite amongst our kids for this.
The 4 Ss & Roots in a Shared History
The four key basic concepts parents should provide for their kids so that they develop good attachments and confidence in life can also be attached to their cultural identity. They’re referred to as the 4 Ss. I’ve adapted them here culturally.
Seen – who are you in Britain what’s your part in its history. Can you speak about it?
Soothed - does the society you are growing up in offer something rooted, positive and reassuring ?
Secure - is there a sense of empathy and trustworthiness. A high trust society or a low trust society?
Safe – combining all the above - isolation, fear and worry or roots, hope and encouragement?
It occurs to me that the psychology of raising kids to be secure and to flourish can be equally as well rooted in their sense of belonging in their own country as within their family set up.
If you can contribute as a co author, help, guide, point me towards anything and everything to help achieve my aim please do get in touch. This will take time to build so bear with me.
I’m hoping to create resources from audio to kiddable podcasts to take with you whether you go explore Stone Henge, a castle or your local war memorial or need something more illuminating and deeper a bedtime read or homework help than Horrible Histories.