Beyond the damage that the majority of Americans feel is being done to our country by this administration, there is another critical reason to vote for congressional checks and balances in the upcoming midterms.
To save our children.
What do you think would be the effect on our nation’s children when our most visible and powerful leaders model behavior that totally conflicts with the character traits we try to teach them?
A whole generation of America’s children—over 50 million—have been exposed to this president’s corrosive influence for more than a decade. At their most vulnerable stage. At a time when they are developing their brains, their character, and core values.
The science is clear that the preteen and teenage years are when our kids are most impressionable. And mostly unconscious about what is shaping them. And let’s not kid ourselves about “childhood innocence” or our ability to isolate them. We know our children’s tech savvy and access to online media today are boundless!
My life’s work has been devoted to character-based leadership. First by training thousands of executives and managers at Renaissance Leadership, a firm that I founded in 1978. There it became evident that the most vital principle for effective leadership—and life—is leading through character-based values such as honesty, trust, mutual respect, and service above self.
Business and life success occurred when these principles prevailed. Note that President Trump believes in none of them. And our children know that.
And then I had the honor of serving as president of the Milton Hershey School, the world’s largest residential school, with over 2,200 financially needy students in pre-K through 12th grade. Our school learned early on that the character development of our children was the key to their success. We became quite good at it, and MHS has been renowned for student character development for over a century.
But with the advent of mass media, technology, and now AI, character-building is becoming much tougher for schools. And incredibly difficult for parents who are the front-line shapers and defenders of America’s children.
A central concept that we taught at Renaissance Leadership was called “The Shadow of the Leader.” Essentially, who you are—your values and your character—casts an impact far beyond what you say and even do.
“Who you are speaks so loudly I can’t hear you!”
That captured the concept. So think about the penetrating impact Trump has on our children, not only by what he brazenly does but what he boasts about daily. Neither we nor especially our kids and grandkids can tell how much is “sinking in.”
Picture our students who were exposed to this “leadership model” from 3rd to 12th grade over the past decade. To the most powerful person in the world. That has the capacity to poison the moral fiber of a whole generation of our children.
And to appreciate the corrosive impact on our citizens, we need only look at dictatorships like those of Hitler and Stalin. And the seduction by fictional villains like the Joker and Darth Vader on juveniles.
So what lessons are America’s children learning from our “Commander in Chief”?
- LYING IS SMART.
- ALWAYS BLAME OTHERS.
- TRUST—AND YOUR WORD—DON’T MATTER.
- (MY) ENDS JUSTIFY MY MEANS.
- BULLYING IS COOL.
- HELPING OTHERS IS STUPID.
Here is the worst part. Our cultural degradation is occurring without a national uproar. Our children are absorbing these lessons of vanity and vengeance largely without a public moral screen.
So this midterm election needs to be our “National Outcry”! Not as Democrats or Republicans or Independents. But as parents, grandparents, teachers, coaches, and all Americans who care about honesty, decency, and putting country above self.
That will require electing courageous and patriotic candidates to Congress. Morally strong leaders who will provide guardrails on a president who will be older, meaner, and more self-serving in the last two years of his reign.
And then we can proudly show our children that America still prides itself on founding principles like equality, freedom of speech, fairness, and rule of law. Building their character around integrity, service, and fairness will still be challenging but doable again.
This is an epic struggle between good and evil. It is essential that Americans rein in the dangerous dictator in the White House for the next two years.
If we fail to do so, the damage to our republic—and to our children—may be beyond repair by 2028.
Johnny O’Brien is a former president of Milton Hershey School and founder of Renaissance Leadership. He is the author of Semisweet: An Orphan’s Journey Through the School the Hersheys Built and lives in Easton.
7 Responses
To blame our current failure of our education system on Trump administration is truly laughable. The perpetual closing of schools during Covid/ inconsistent remote learning and indoctrination of woke idealism. This was regularly rebuffed by Republican led states. Do you even think these kids were concerned or even listened to Trump as opposed to FB Instagram/ you tube whatsapp Tik Tok. Oh and what would they hear from Biden…ahhhhh what was the question again.? give me a break. Talk about vulnerable kids and you mandate discussions about gender to 3rd graders making them so confused… and then proceed with gender affirming crap without having to tell the parent!!!!….hows that for Americas front line shapers(parents) If kids did pay attention they may learn the difference between personality and policy. Trump is very impactful… Biden to be polite not so much. What did they get from Biden… that you can have dementia and still be President. Just look at Maryland education. This Democrat run state is 24th nationally in US News and World Report. They are spending $10.2 billion this year ..17% more then last year at students who show little improvement. In fact the only reason they keep the graduation rate up is because they lower the bar for achievement levels. So I ask you do you really think Trump is the threat to our kids or is it Democratic woke liberalism the bigger threat
Dr. O’Connor, you are an excellent physician. I have always had full confidence in your care – for family members and for myself.
But you’ve got this one 100% wrong.
Leadership at the top matters. What we have now is not “leadership,” and we are all suffering. And yes, the children are noticing. The list provided in the Letter to the Editor is on point. The writer is correct.
How long will it take people like you to realise that the definition of the word woke is ‘informed’ which apparently you are not? Trump is a cruel, nasty, narcissistic bully, which is obvious to anyone who pays attention to the words that come out of his mouth and his actions in ruining the environment, the White House, and anything else he can lay his hands on with no regard to the rule of law. And there is no better picture of dementia than the Felon in the White House right now.
Lets expand the real meaning of “woke” . Informed about social injustice includes “no cash bail”, soft on crime/releasing murderers and rapist into the community/not cooperating with ICE (not surrendering illegal immigrant prisoners to them) allowing them into the community/ DEI…promotions based on ethnicity or color of skin not merit or achievement/ teaching gender identification to 3rd graders/ promoting “gender transition” without having to tell parents/ allowing men to play in women sports/ no borders for our sovereign country/ turning a blind eye to fraud.
Mr. O’Brien, the president does not run our schools. Curriculum, standards, hiring, discipline, and the school day belong to the state and to local boards. Parents do the rest. Blaming Donald Trump for the moral fiber of 50 million children is a category error dressed up as civic duty.
The style matches the argument. “To save our children” is a slogan, not a sentence. “At their most vulnerable stage” is a fragment posing as evidence. “The science is clear” arrives with no science attached. “Who you are speaks so loudly I can’t hear you” is a mangled Emerson line (“What you do speaks so loudly that I cannot hear what you say”), offered without attribution and slightly off. Then Hitler, Stalin, the Joker, and Darth Vader share one paragraph, and an elected president is given a “reign.” That is not character education. That is a campaign ad with a school letterhead.
If the Commander in Chief is the chief moral tutor of the republic, the schools — including the one you once led — have been remarkably idle. Vote on education if you like. Just vote on the people who actually control it.
Character matters and children do see what is being done and said by this president. The examples set by Mr. Trump of bullying, lying, and going against anyone who is not supporting him is not setting a positive example for our children. Certainly not examples that I would want any child to emulate. Attacking the freedom of the press because he doesn’t like what is said or written is not the American way, and it is illegal, going against the First Amendment. Trump knows this, but he tries each and every day to test the boundaries on what he can get away with. Do we want our children to see and practice what Trump is saying and doing, testing the boundaries to see if they can get away with doing something illegal? What are our children to think while studying American history when comparing this administration to what our founding fathers wrote? AND why being WOKE ever became a negative for some continues to baffle me. Caring about others, fighting against discrimination and social injustice should, in my opinion, be something everyone embraces and something supported in our schools. Integrity, intelligent thoughtful discussion and debate, honesty, and yes, showing respect for our Constitution and the Rule of Law should be something they witness in our leaders. Our democracy, climate, and scientific research are all threatened by the ignorance of this Administration. Our children are sadly witnessing people being taken away, many here legally and taken when appearing for the required immigration hearings, but taken without due process. Embracing our enemies: Putin, Kim Jong Un, and Xi Jinping, while separating from our long term allies is something hard to explain to a child. Do we want them to think dictatorship is the better way? The long term adverse effects of this administration will take years to remedy and much will be left for our children to fix, if at all possible. Yes, the president does not run our schools, although his Department of Education run by a woman who was a former professional wrestling executive (!) has been been adversely affected by his policies, but he does run the country. Character does matter and the children are watching.
Anne, you concede the central point and then walk away from it. Yes, the president does not run our schools. Curriculum, standards, hiring, discipline, and the daily formation of children remain with the state, the local board, and parents. That was the category error in the original piece. Listing national grievances does not repair it.
Character matters. So does jurisdiction. Children absorb far more from the adults who actually raise and teach them than from a president’s posts or press conferences. If the moral fiber of fifty million children is the issue, the relevant questions are what Maryland schools teach, how they enforce discipline, and what parents model at home—not whether the Commander in Chief is the republic’s chief character tutor. The schools Mr. O’Brien once led, and the ones our local boards still run, have not been idle bystanders.
On the rest: criticizing the press is not a First Amendment violation; presidents of both parties have done it for decades, and courts still exist. “Woke” did not become a negative because people object to caring about others; it became one because specific policies—compelled speech, race essentialism, and the denial of biological sex—were enforced in institutions, including schools. Immigration enforcement is not dictatorship; due-process rules are set by statute and litigated in court, not invented in an op-ed. Realism toward adversaries is not an endorsement of their systems. And the Secretary of Education’s prior career does not change the constitutional division of authority over K-12 education.
The original claim was that voting for congressional checks will save the nation’s children from a president’s personal example. That remains a slogan in search of a school board. Vote on education if you wish. Vote for the people who actually control it.