Children of politically liberal
parents
are more likely to suffer from
depression and anxiety
, lack a sense of life meaning, and have
substance abuse
issues, according to a family physician with more than 30 years of experience.
Dr. Leonard Sax, who also holds a Ph.D. in psychology, told the Washington Examiner that left-of-center parents are much more likely to be “aggressively permissive” in their parenting style, leaving children without proper authority.
MOMS USE MASSIVE BILLBOARDS TO BATTLE FENTANYL CRISIS THAT TOOK THEIR DAUGHTERS
These “permissive parents,” whose parenting style is also known as “gentle parenting,” do not want to be seen as “controlling” or “coercive” to their children.
For example, “gentle parents,” which proponents
describe
as “patient, calm, and punishment-free,” do not train their children to use the toilet, but rather “model” using the toilet in hopes of
inspiring
the child to use the toilet and grow out of their diaper.
In a
piece
for the Institute for Family Studies, Sax wrote of an experience he had with a six-year-old patient and her mother, where the little girl refused to open her mouth for Sax to inspect her sore throat. When he asked the mother to step in to get her daughter to comply, she replied with the pro-abortion slogan, “Her body, her choice.”
“I think it’s because of the discomfort with authority,” the doctor said of liberal parents. “Authority seems suspect and almost immoral.”
These parents will take the view that “I cannot compel my child to take on any obligation that they have not freely chosen.”
“I now encounter parents who believe in ‘gentle parenting,’ or its close relative, mindful parenting. The gentle parent lets the child decide. The gentle parent never uses punishments of any kind, not even time-outs.” And the gentle parents are overwhelmingly progressive.…
— Brad Wilcox (@BradWilcoxIFS) April 4, 2023
“Kids need boundaries. They need structure. They need guidance,” Sax said. “Letting kids make all the big decisions without guardrails, the result, often, is kids who are adrift, who become anxious and depressed.”
Sax cited an
article
in the Journal of American College Health, showing permissive parenting develops young people who have “less sense of meaning and purpose in life, less autonomy and mastery of the world around them.” The doctor also pointed to
research
showing such a parenting style can lead to substance abuse issues.
“In order for a child to become an adult, they need to know what’s important, what matters,” Sax said. “Kids are not born knowing the rules; they have to be taught. But if you don’t teach them, then they are adrift, and they’re in the culture of their peers. What’s right and wrong in the culture of your peers can change from one day to the next, from one hour to the next.”
Rapidly changing cultural trends have had profound effects on children, exacerbated heavily by access to social media.
“Whether or not you’re a good person doesn’t matter,” Sax said. “If you’re not famous, you’re nobody. … If you don’t have a million followers on Instagram, if you don’t have lots of likes on your TikTok, you are nobody, you are nothing.”
“If parents have grounded their kids in a more lasting culture, then kids are to some degree insulated and protected from that toxicity of contemporary American culture,” he continued. “But if parents are permissive and let their kids spend hours a day on social media and playing video games, then kids are immersed in that toxic culture, and that toxic culture we know leads to anxiety, depression, and disengagement.”
These parents are also more permitting to life-altering medical treatments, such as transgender drugs and surgeries, than authoritative parents.
One thing Sax says does not receive enough attention is the fact that liberal parents are “much more likely to have kids who transition or want to transition to another sex.”
“In a home where the parents are left-of-center, if the kid announces, ‘Hey, I just saw a TikTok video, I think I’m trans,’ the left-of-center parent is more likely to say, ‘Oh, great! Whatever you say,'” he explained.
CLICK HERE TO READ MORE FROM THE WASHINGTON EXAMINER
“The left-of-center parent is very open to puberty blockers and cross-sex hormones if that’s what the child wants,” Sax continued. “The right-of-center parent is going to be much more skeptical and will usually strongly resist any attempt to transition.”
Sax says the correlation between parental permissiveness and left-of-center ideology is a relatively new phenomenon, but research shows American culture has
drifted
toward a “children rule” dynamic in recent years.
