Kirk Cameron said public education is “doing more grooming for leftist politics that it is education” as he explained his upcoming documentary, titled “The Homeschool Awakening.”
In the interview, the 51-year-old actor told The Daily Wire about his movie that hits theaters in June, which he said “is all about hope, freedom, and education.” “It’s not focusing on the problem,” he shared, adding that “media has done a good job of pointing that out” since the pandemic.
In the trailer for the film, Cameron labels the public school system “public enemy No. 1” and expands on those comments, telling us that “there are good teachers who are trying to be a light in a dark system,” but said that “public education has gotten so bad, it’s doing more grooming for leftist politics than it is education.”
Cameron said that his father was a public school teacher and he already “had a healthy skepticism free of public school.” The actor and his wife originally sent their kids to a private school, and then in sixth grade they didn’t like the option so much. Cameron admitted that he was like others, but that all of his “stereotypes and misconceptions” of what it meant to homeschool “just exploded” as he discovered that homeschooling meant “kids can learn by their learning style” and “get a fantastic education” at the same time. So, they decided to pull their kids out, calling it the “best decision” they made.
And he’s not alone — an Associated Press article in April noted that “in 18 states that shared data through the current school year, the number of homeschooling students increased by 63% in the 2020-2021 school year, then fell by only 17% in the 2021-2022 school year.”
Before the pandemic, the number of kids in the United States who were homeschooled totaled 3%, per the outlet.
The “Fireproof” star said the number one reason parents said they decided to pull their kids from public school was that “they were horrified at the breach of trust” from their public education.
The movie focuses on twenty families “who live all over the country in urban areas, rural areas,” etc., and shows how “the world has become their classroom,” highlighting things like how “kids are learning to start businesses because their parents are seeing the opportunity for freedom” in this kind of learning environment.
“The big idea is that if you believe God gave your children to you, then you have the opportunity to shape their hearts and minds,” Kirk shared when asked about parents who worry whether they will have time for this.
“You [the parent] have the opportunity to tailor your kid’s education and what to instill, the knowledge, etc. … It’s not one size fits all,” he added. “Who does that is the public education system. Even good teachers struggle with this. Both in the way they teach the kids and what they teach the kids.”
“They [parents] just need to know you’re not beholden to this crazy schedule of 8 hours of school,” Cameron continued. “The way it is now for kids, you learn to hate learning, but by experiencing the world (when it comes to things like english, math, history) you learn to love learning.”
The “Growing Pains” star said he hopes the movie will help those who feel “they are trapped in public school” and feel they have no way out see “there’s many different ways” to make homeschooling a reality for their family.
“I want those parents to see I am not a prisoner in a system I am not happy with,” Cameron explained. “And to see there’s another way.”
And the documentary shares how, as he explained that there “are networks and co-ops in the homeschool community” along with curriculums from professional educators. The film also deals with the “freedom and the opportunity” this gives families, along with answering the “most commonly asked questions” about homeschooling.
“The ins and outs,” he added. “The how tos,” and all the way up to the “higher education level.”
At one point, the actor admitted “homeschool is not for everyone” and that “the point of this movie” is showing how “parents are taking back the leadership role” when it comes to their child’s education.
In his film, people learn about how one family went from encouraging their kids’ school to require parent involvement when it comes to explicit material to them reading what the material was and realizing that public school wasn’t for them.
Another story deals with a family who has a child with special needs. He said the public school they were a part of told them how their child would be educated. They got one vote and then the school, the teacher, and the special needs instructor got to vote, and he said “they were out-voted three to one.” The parents came to realize just because “they didn’t have a credential” in teaching special needs didn’t mean they weren’t qualified to teach their own child — which is exactly what they decided to do, and he said their child is doing great.
We also talked about a recent MSNBC column, titled “How the conservative Christian right is hijacking homeschooling. The conservative Christian right has been working hard to dismantle public schooling for years.”
The op-ed argued people who partake in homeschooling are actually helping to end public school and re-segregate society — even if they’re doing it unknowingly, as reported previously by The Daily Wire.
MSNBC tweeted, “It may seem harmless, but the insidious racism of the American religious right’s obsession with homeschooling speaks volumes,” while linking to the article written by University of Pennsylvania Professor Anthea Butler.
Cameron said that in the piece, the author “highlighted his movie” and claimed the homeschool documentary is “all about racism, that we are anti-education.”
“Homeschool parents are not defending a terminal disease. We are pro-faith, pro-family, pro-education,” he said.
“The Homeschool Awakening” will be in theaters for two days only, June 13 and 14. Tickets can be purchased online ahead of time. Tickets and more information can be found here.