Dear Tell All: My son grew up in Madison and learned progressive values from my husband and me. When he was in elementary school, we took him door-to-door to canvass for John Kerry and Barack Obama. When he was in middle school, we took him to rallies to protest Scott Walker’s union-busting Act 10. In high school, he learned to make sophisticated arguments for his liberal positions on civil rights and economic fairness. My husband and I were proud of his political stance…until he went off to college at a small liberal-arts school in the Northwest two years ago.
Since then, my son has become increasingly radicalized. He’s been involved in protests aimed at shutting down right-wing speakers on campus. He defends the destruction of private property to make a political point (although I don’t think he’s actually done so himself, at least not yet). He also defends Antifa, the left-wing group that violently confronts right-wing groups. I’m worried that his next step will be joining up with them.
Neither my husband nor I condones this activity. We believe in free speech even for those we strongly disagree with. We believe in peaceful, democratic solutions to problems and condemn violence on both sides. We’ve tried to talk our son out of his extreme positions, but he has a well-thought-out argument justifying his new radicalism. It’s been impossible to make any headway, intellectually or emotionally.
Did we create a monster by politicizing him at too young an age? And is there any way to turn him back toward moderation?
Small-d democrat
Dear Small-d: You can’t blame yourself for “creating a monster.” You simply exposed your son to your reasonable democratic values while he was growing up. As you surely know, you’re not the first parent whose child came back from college as a fiery radical.
Your son hasn’t yet taken the plunge into violence and vandalism, so you have a window of opportunity. Your best move is to continue making the sorts of rational arguments your son understands, based in historical fact. It shouldn’t be hard to find examples of political firebrands taking the law into their own hands with disastrous results—see the Vietnam-era bombing of Sterling Hall right here in Madison.
And take heart, Small-d. You also wouldn’t be the first parent whose radical child moved toward moderation after graduating from college.
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