A high school principal in Spring Township, Pennsylvania, is drawing national attention after a viral video showed him confronting dozens of students who walked out of class to protest federal immigration policies.
In a tense exchange on Thursday captured on camera, Daniel Weber of Wilson High School told the group that while they have the right to their opinions, those rights do not grant them the authority to bypass school safety protocols or skip class.
The incident began when <a href="https://www.wfmz.com/news/area/berks/wilson-hs-students-face-disciplinary-action-for-walkout-protest/article_9a3cba57-624c-4606-a824-6c810e374532.html">roughly 60 students</a> left the building without authorization to stage a demonstration against Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE). The walkout followed a series of discussions between students and the Wilson School District about a possible sanctioned protest. Although administrators had considered approving the event, the district eventually canceled it after being told the student-led demonstration was no longer planned.
When students decided to proceed with the walkout anyway, Weber met them outside, where several were seen carrying Mexican flags.
“If you go back to class, then we’re good. If you stay out here, we will get your names, and you will be suspended. Okay?” Weber stated. “That is your option at this point, because you are operating outside the bounds of what was granted. That event was canceled. You left school without permission. Your rights do not supersede the school. So if you understand that, that is your option. If you wish to return, Dr. Damiani will let you in that door over there. If not, I will be getting your names; you will be suspended. Okay? Those are your options. All right? Your rights do not exceed that of the school.”
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet">
BREAKING &#8211; A Pennsylvania principal, Daniel Weber of Wilson High School, is receiving widespread recognition after shutting down an anti-ICE walkout at his school by threatening suspension for all students involved. <a href="https://t.co/6d6IclC1iW">pic.twitter.com/6d6IclC1iW</a>
— Right Angle News Network (@Rightanglenews) <a href="https://twitter.com/Rightanglenews/status/2024504490297090147?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">February 19, 2026</a></blockquote>
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In a statement, a spokesperson for the Wilson School District clarified that the discipline was not a reaction to the students’ political viewpoints, but rather a matter of safety and procedure, <a href="https://dailycaller.com/2026/02/19/watch-principal-lay-down-the-law-to-students-on-anti-ice-walkout/?utm_source=chatgpt.com">stating</a>:
<blockquote>
The walkout occurred after the District was informed that a student-led demonstration was not planned, which limited our ability to plan for student supervision and safety. When students left their classrooms and the school building without authorization, staff accompanied them simply to ensure student safety and order. Students were not, and are not, disciplined for expressing their viewpoints. Any consequences associated with this situation are based solely on violations of established school procedures, including leaving class or the building without permission and failing to follow staff directions.
</blockquote>
The incident at Wilson High School comes amid a broader wave of student-led anti-ICE protests across the country, including recent mass walkouts in the Chicago suburbs.
“Students from Downers Grove North and Downers Grove South High Schools left their schools around 12:45 p.m. and converged near the downtown train station, chanting ‘ICE out and carrying signs calling for change. Hundreds of students from schools in northwest suburban Carpentersville also walked out of class to protest ICE operations,” NBC Chicago <a href="applewebdata://6D09A505-55ED-4AAC-A562-A361BA57C906/v">reported</a>.

Ice Police Law Enforcement – Department of Homeland Security, Immigration and Customs Agents

Principal Faces Off With Anti-ICE Walkout Students, Issues Ultimatum

anti-ICE protests

High School

Pennsylvania

High school student filling out test answers with pen

San Francisco Banned ‘Racist’ Algebra A Decade Ago. The Results Are Now In.

San Francisco Banned 'Racist' Algebra A Decade Ago. The Results Are Now In.

Blacks

College

Diversity Equity and Inclusion (DEI)

Education

Mathematics

Matt Walsh

Opinion

Public Schools

Teenagers

Violence

Whites

A new report details a serious allegation of sexual assault and a subsequent breakdown in institutional oversight within Washington&#8217;s Puyallup School District. The story centers on Kallie Keeler, a 16-year-old female sophomore wrestler at Rogers High School who has competed in the sport since early childhood.
During a wrestling match on December 6, Keeler competed in the 190-pound weight class against an opponent from Emerald Ridge High School. Video from the bout appears to show Keeler in visible distress. According to her testimony, the opponent, a transgender-identifying boy, forcefully inserted his fingers into her private area during a move, causing her to feel violated and disoriented. Keeler later said she allowed herself to be pinned in order to end the match and escape the situation.
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet">
16-year-old Kallie Keeler didn&#8217;t even realize she was wrestling a boy. She didn&#8217;t find out until after she says he forcefully pushed his fingers into her vagina. The Puyallup (WA) School District is accused of burying her complaint – now there&#8217;s now a criminal investigation. <a href="https://t.co/4LRo0ft0wI">pic.twitter.com/4LRo0ft0wI</a>
— Brandi Kruse (@BrandiKruse) <a href="https://twitter.com/BrandiKruse/status/2021052492180840920?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">February 10, 2026</a></blockquote>
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“I didn&#8217;t really know what to do or how to handle that situation. I just wanted the match to be over,” Keeler said.
Immediately after the match, Keeler told her mother what she said had occurred and attempted to locate her coach. It was only afterward, she said, that a coach from a different school informed her that her opponent had been permitted to compete in the girls&#8217; division despite being a biological male. Keeler expressed a sense of double violation: first by the alleged physical assault, and second by the realization that she had been tricked into competing against a male athlete in a high-contact sport without her knowledge or consent.
To assess whether the contact could have been accidental, reporter Brandi Kruse consulted wrestling experts with decades of experience. After reviewing the video, the experts concluded that the position executed did not require the type of contact alleged. They noted that in similar situations, a wrestler typically grips the opponent&#8217;s thigh or knee rather than making prolonged contact in a prohibited area.
The most significant administrative issue centers on the Puyallup School District’s response. Despite Keeler reporting the incident immediately and her parents emailing coaches, the district reportedly took no formal action for nearly two months. This delay came despite Washington state law requiring school officials to report suspected sexual assault to law enforcement within 48 hours.
The district did not report the incident to the Pierce County Sheriff’s Office until January 30, one day after the media contacted the district for comment. The Sheriff’s Office has since confirmed that an active criminal investigation is underway. Critics have accused district officials of remaining silent in order to protect what they describe as &#8220;radical gender ideology&#8221; at the expense of student safety and state law. Keeler continues to advocate for policy changes, asserting that biological males should not compete in women&#8217;s strength-based sports.

2025 NCAA Division I Men’s Wrestling Championship

Betrayed On The Mat: Teen Wrestler Says She Was Sexually Assaulted By Trans-Identifying Opponent

transgender athlete

Washington

Wrestling

When hundreds of students across the country walked out of class last week to protest ICE, the scene felt uncomfortably familiar. The chants, the certainty, and the urgency to declare a side reflected a pattern my generation repeats during nearly every political moment: strong emotion paired with limited understanding. Watching it unfold as a high school student, the issue appeared larger than a single protest. The walkouts exposed an education system that failed to teach students how the government functions — or how federal law enforcement actually operates.
From Georgia to California, students are walking out of class demanding that ICE be “removed” from their communities. In practice, for many of my peers, these walkouts function less as political statements and more as an excuse to miss class. At Lakeside High School in Georgia — where many of the protest videos originated — approximately 1,500 of the school’s roughly 2,200 students participated in an organized walkout protesting ICE. That would suggest that more than half the student body is so politically engaged that they are willing to sacrifice instructional time for a policy cause — an assumption undermined by the fact that fewer than 40% of Americans ages 18-19 vote.
For the small minority of students who genuinely care, the protests offer an opportunity to join a cause they assume is morally righteous. For all participants, however, these walkouts rest on an incomplete — and often incorrect — understanding of what ICE actually does and who holds authority over immigration policy.
The collapse of civic education in K–12 schools has produced widespread confusion about how the federal government functions. Many students believe ICE writes immigration law rather than enforces statutes passed by Congress. Others assume a president can simply suspend laws at will, or that public outrage alone can override the legislative process and reshape federal policy.
What no one has taught my peers is that Congress — not ICE, and not the White House — writes immigration law. Every administration, including President Trump’s, is obligated to enforce the laws Congress passes.
This confusion among students is not a failure of intelligence. It reflects an education system that avoids political controversy at all costs. Teachers are warned not to “take sides,” administrators steer clear of any topic that might provoke backlash, and students grow up believing that discussing the law or governance is dangerous. Instead of learning how the government functions, students learn how to talk around it.
This silence shapes how my generation engages with politics. Only a few miles from my Long Island high school, Generation Z played a decisive role in electing a socialist mayor in America’s most capitalist city. Many of those voters were never taught about the historical consequences of socialism — the collapse of economies, the erosion of democratic institutions, and the human suffering that follows. Those lessons are treated as too political for classrooms. The result is a generation making political choices without understanding the ideas being supported.
Students are not avoiding dialogue because of apathy. They avoid it because schools have trained them to fear disagreement. When issues such as immigration, abortion, or Israel arise, classrooms go quiet — not from a lack of opinion, but from concern over social and academic consequences.
Before becoming a nationally syndicated columnist, I hesitated to speak openly in classrooms. I rewrote comments, withheld arguments, and waited for safer moments to share my views. Now, I voice those perspectives in front of millions of readers, fully aware of the consequences. But even with all the pushback, my openness has not only sharpened my passion for politics but produced an impact far greater than I ever anticipated.
The danger of silence becomes clear during moments like these walkouts. When students protest without understanding what they want to change or how change occurs, it reveals how unprepared they are for civic participation. Informed activism cannot exist without civic knowledge.
Restoring serious civic education remains the only path forward. Students should learn not only which policies exist, but why they exist. They should understand how Congress, the courts, and federal agencies interact. Schools should encourage substantive debate rather than discourage it. Avoiding discomfort leaves students unprepared for the responsibilities of citizenship — and for the world they are about to enter.
* * *
Gregory Lyakhov is a nationally syndicated columnist and podcast host, regularly appearing on national television to discuss education policy, U.S. politics, and public affairs.
The views expressed in this piece are those of the author and do not necessarily represent those of The Daily Wire.

College Students Walkout In Protest Against ICE In Texas

The ICE Walkouts Prove My Generation Wasn’t Taught How Government Works

Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE)

Leftists

Protests

Students

Tomorrow, the Supreme Court will hear a case about trans-identifying boys participating in girls’ sports. A West Virginia law is at the center of the hearing.
The Daily Wire has been at the forefront of the battle over gender ideology. Exhibit A: Matt Walsh’s groundbreaking documentary What Is A Woman?
It’s one thing for an adult to fight the good fight and entirely another for an eighth-grade girl to take a stand.
They say this case will affect laws in 27 states. But it’s already directly affected the life of one young girl in West Virginia.
Here she is in her own words. — Joel Kneedler
* * *
Eighth grade. The year when most girls are making core memories with friends and preparing for that exciting, albeit scary, transition to high school. But for me, that year was frustrating and uncomfortable.
As a young female athlete, I lost out on the opportunity to compete in West Virginia’s Mid-Mountain Championship track-and-field meet and had to endure sexually harassing comments from a male athlete who was allowed to join the girls’ team at my middle school.
Now, I’m 17 years old and eagerly looking to the U.S. Supreme Court as it hears — for the first time — why it should protect female athletes and affirm the biological reality that boys and girls are different.
<div id="attachment_1026433" style="width: 874px" class="wp-caption aligncenter"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-1026433" class="size-large wp-image-1026433" src="https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2026/01/West-Virginia-II-864x576.jpg" alt="Credit: Adaleia Cross." width="864" height="576" srcset="https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2026/01/West-Virginia-II-864x576.jpg 864w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2026/01/West-Virginia-II-300x200.jpg 300w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2026/01/West-Virginia-II-768x512.jpg 768w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2026/01/West-Virginia-II.jpg 900w" sizes=" (max-width: 864px) 100vw, 864px" />Credit: Adaleia Cross.</div>
The Court is considering two cases: <a href="https://adflegal.org/case/bpj-v-west-virginia-state-board-education/?utm_source=dailywire&amp;utm_medium=oped">one</a> being litigated by Attorney General JB McCuskey of my home state of West Virginia and <a href="https://adflegal.org/case/little-v-hecox/?utm_source=dailywire&amp;utm_medium=oped">another</a> led by Idaho Attorney General Raúl Labrador. Both states are joined by legal counsel from Alliance Defending Freedom, which has represented me in other cases. These states enacted laws to restore common sense, fairness, and safety in women’s sports. Shortly afterward, however, activists who believe that boys should be able to compete against girls challenged both laws. The lawsuit in my state was brought on behalf of the male athlete competing on my girls’ track-and-field team.
That athlete displaced 423 different girls 1,100 times and took 57 medals from them. Those young women will never get those opportunities back. And that’s just one athlete. Other girls and women across the country, from middle school to college to the Olympics, continue to tell their stories of bravely choosing to <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/watch-female-fencer-and-trans-supporting-usa-fencing-head-face-off-at-heated-doge-hearing">forfeit games</a> or matches in defense of biological truth. Or they talk about the heartache of losing to males who take roster spots and stand on <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/cheated-betrayed-and-violated-riley-gaines-reflects-on-journey-to-protect-girls-sports?author=Amanda+Prestigiacomo&amp;category=News&amp;elementPosition=undefined&amp;row=0&amp;rowType=Vertical+List&amp;title=%E2%80%98Cheated%2C+Betrayed%2C+And+Violated%E2%80%99%3A+Riley+Gaines+Reflects+On+Journey+To+Protect+Girls+Sports">winner podiums</a> meant for girls.
Until April 2023, I was in the top three on my team for discus in both seventh and eighth grade. I was usually in the top three or four for shot put as well. But that changed when the male started beating me.
It felt strange to be kicked out of my events because I had always gotten to compete before. I felt angry and discouraged that a male athlete took my spot. But I also felt like I couldn’t say anything about it. If I complained, I was made to feel like the problem for feeling uncomfortable and recognizing the unfairness. I felt like I had to suck it up and live with it. I felt unheard and unseen.
It’s extremely frustrating to know that no matter how hard I work, I will not be able to throw farther than the male athlete. Being excluded from a competition before it even begins is discouraging; I am obviously not as strong and athletic as most boys my age. It makes me so angry that I do not even have a chance to win. I want to scream, “Why am I even here?”
In fact, I’ve decided not to compete in track and field in high school because of the male athletes’ participation. 
It’s frustrating that I have to give up the sport I love — and excel at — because school officials have allowed males to compete with the girls. A male’s belief about his gender doesn’t erase the physical advantages over females.
Losing opportunities to compete at higher levels is very frustrating, but even worse was having to endure the athlete’s sexual, vulgar comments directed at me. Not to mention having to share a locker room. No girl should be forced to change in front of a boy or share such intimate spaces with the opposite sex.
In sports, biology matters. In life, it does too.
Gender ideology is full of lies that hurt real people. Believing that a male can erase physical differences with drugs impacts so much more than just girls’ sports. Women deserve their own spaces. Men don’t belong in women’s showers, restrooms, locker rooms, overnight school trips, prisons, or shelters.
All this weighs heavily on my heart, not just for me, but for my little sister, who is an incredible athlete.
<div id="attachment_1026429" style="width: 874px" class="wp-caption aligncenter"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-1026429" class="size-large wp-image-1026429" src="https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2026/01/Untitled-design-14-864x576.jpg" alt="Credit: Adaleia Cross." width="864" height="576" srcset="https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2026/01/Untitled-design-14-864x576.jpg 864w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2026/01/Untitled-design-14-300x200.jpg 300w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2026/01/Untitled-design-14-768x512.jpg 768w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2026/01/Untitled-design-14.jpg 900w" sizes=" (max-width: 864px) 100vw, 864px" />Credit: Adaleia Cross.</div>
It’s not true that a man can be a woman. If we want a society that respects women, we must accept that reality. Title IX was designed to guarantee equal opportunity for women. We can’t go backward. 
 
I may only be one voice from West Virginia, but I know I stand on the shoulders of trailblazers who have championed women’s rights for years. And today, I join a new chorus of women — we’re young and paying attention. We’re also grateful for this incredible opportunity to ask the Supreme Court to listen to our stories and allow states to defend biological reality, fairness, and female athletes.
 * * * 
 
Adaleia Cross is a West Virginia high school student.
The views expressed in this piece are those of the author and do not necessarily represent those of The Daily Wire.
* * *
<h3>WATCH: Matt Walsh’s “What Is A Woman?” on DailyWire+</h3>
<a href="https://www.dailywire.com/videos/what-is-a-woman?elementPosition=3&amp;row=6&amp;rowHeadline=Featured&amp;rowType=Portrait+Show+Carousel"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" class="size-large wp-image-805851" src="https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2024/10/MixCollage-01-Oct-2024-04-20-PM-2436-1024x576.jpg" alt="What is a Woman?" width="1024" height="576" /></a>

MixCollage-12-Jan-2026-08-52-AM-2830

I’m One Of The Girls Title IX Was Meant To Protect

gender ideology

Middle School

SCOTUS

Sports

Supreme Court

Transgender

West Virginia

Women's sports

<div>
President Donald Trump revealed plans this week for a new nationwide athletic competition dubbed the “Patriot Games,” a four-day event set for next year that will feature elite high school athletes from every state and U.S. territory. The announcement came alongside the launch of &#8220;Freedom,&#8221; an organization tasked with coordinating celebrations marking the nation’s upcoming 250th anniversary.
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<div>
According to Trump, the Patriot Games will bring together two standout athletes from each state — one male and one female — to compete in a slate of sporting events designed to showcase excellence, patriotism, and fair competition. The president framed the event as both historic and culturally significant, emphasizing that it would reflect his administration’s broader push to protect women’s sports.
</div>
<div>
Trump said in a <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UxdWW2CiB_8">video announcement</a>: “Frankly, you&#8217;ll never see anything like it, and you&#8217;ll never see anything like it again. In the fall, we will host the first-ever Patriot Games, an unprecedented four-day athletic event featuring the greatest high school athletes, one young man and one young woman from each state and territory. But I promise there will be no men playing in women&#8217;s sports. You&#8217;re not going to see that. You&#8217;ll see everything but that.”
</div>
<div>
The comments echo Trump’s long-standing opposition to allowing biological males to compete in female athletic divisions, an issue that has become a defining cultural flashpoint. His administration has repeatedly moved to restrict transgender-identifying men from competing in women’s sports.
<a class="c-link" href="https://get.dailywire.com/subscribe/plus/?utm_medium=website&amp;utm_source=editorial&amp;utm_campaign=christmas&amp;utm_content=christmassale25" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" data-stringify-link="https://get.dailywire.com/subscribe/plus/?utm_medium=website&amp;utm_source=editorial&amp;utm_campaign=christmas&amp;utm_content=christmassale25" data-sk="tooltip_parent" aria-describedby="sk-tooltip-33447">Christmas Sale – Get 40% off New DailyWire+ Annual Memberships</a>
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<div>
The Patriot Games will be part of a larger slate of events planned to commemorate the nation’s milestone anniversary. As The Hill <a href="https://thehill.com/blogs/in-the-know/5655553-trump-patriot-games-2026/">reported,</a> those celebrations will also include a “Great American State Fair” on the National Mall featuring exhibits from all 50 states, scheduled from June through July; a major Independence Day celebration complete with fireworks and a military flyover; and a high-profile Ultimate Fighting Championship event slated to take place at the White House.
</div>
<div>
Trump said the festivities are meant to be both celebratory and unifying. “People are going to have a good time,” he said, noting that recent events honoring the Army, Navy, and Marine Corps anniversaries were just the beginning.
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<div>
With the Patriot Games, Trump is pitching a blend of athletic competition, national pride, and cultural clarity — positioning the event as a one-of-a-kind spectacle that aligns sports with what he describes as common-sense American values.
Trump’s announcement quickly drew loose comparisons to The Hunger Games, a dystopian novel set in a future America where the government forces young people from different districts into a televised fight to the death until only one survives.
</div>

President Trump Signs Executive Order Reclassifying Marijuana As Low Risk Drug

Trump Launches ‘Patriot Games’ To Showcase Top High School Athletes From Every State

Donald Trump

Executive

Politics

You may recognize Leland Vittert from his work as an anchor on NewsNation. What you may not recognize, however, is that Leland got to where he is after being diagnosed with autism.
With renewed scrutiny on the causes of autism, his new book “Born Lucky” is flying off the shelves, landing at #4 on the New York Times bestseller list. It&#8217;s not just a story about how Leland managed to build a successful life with autism, but also about the people who sacrificed to make that possible.
So when we asked about publishing an excerpt from it, Leland suggested the afterword, written by his dad. After reading it, we understand why. But we asked him to explain it to our readers as well.
We hope you enjoy. — The Editors
* * *
When I was diagnosed with what we now know to be autism, my father quit his job and became a full time parent, coach, and friend. It was, as he describes it, my only hope. He felt hopeless and helpless and with good reason. The psychologist who tested me told him there was “generally not” anything parents could do for kids in my situation and it was “difficult to understand” what&#8217;s going on in my head.
My father’s mission to adapt me to the world, rather than the world to me, took him 15 years – to be fair, I am now 43 and he is still working on it.
In my new book, &#8220;<a href="https://www.amazon.com/Born-Lucky-Dedicated-Grateful-Journey/dp/140025468X/?_encoding=UTF8&amp;pd_rd_w=M2Kgd&amp;content-id=amzn1.sym.4efc43db-939e-4a80-abaf-50c6a6b8c631%3Aamzn1.symc.5a16118f-86f0-44cd-8e3e-6c5f82df43d0&amp;pf_rd_p=4efc43db-939e-4a80-abaf-50c6a6b8c631&amp;pf_rd_r=ZH2H6KCH5RD7206BW8AE&amp;pd_rd_wg=ZzvPM&amp;pd_rd_r=39261712-bad5-42ce-93ea-31acd52c574f&amp;ref_=pd_hp_d_atf_ci_mcx_mr_ca_hp_atf_d">Born Lucky: A Dedicated Father, Grateful Son, and My Journey with Autism</a>,&#8221; I tell the story of my father’s journey and how he never told anyone of my diagnosis: not teachers, not therapists, not his friends, and not even me!
<div id="attachment_985495" style="width: 1034px" class="wp-caption aligncenter"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-985495" class="size-large wp-image-985495" src="https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/10/MixCollage-14-Oct-2025-08-37-AM-5895-1024x576.jpg" alt="Credit: Leland Vittert" width="1024" height="576" srcset="https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/10/MixCollage-14-Oct-2025-08-37-AM-5895-1024x576.jpg 1024w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/10/MixCollage-14-Oct-2025-08-37-AM-5895-300x169.jpg 300w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/10/MixCollage-14-Oct-2025-08-37-AM-5895-768x432.jpg 768w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/10/MixCollage-14-Oct-2025-08-37-AM-5895-1536x864.jpg 1536w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/10/MixCollage-14-Oct-2025-08-37-AM-5895-2048x1152.jpg 2048w" sizes=" (max-width: 1024px) 100vw, 1024px" />Credit: Leland Vittert</div>
Thanks to my dad (and mom) things have worked out pretty well. We endured the hell that was middle school, where principals told my parents I was “weird” and teachers compared me disfavorably to their dog’s asses. I am now married to a magnificent woman and I’m a national cable television anchor. What dad didn&#8217;t know at the time was that the hell of middle school would be great training for a Washington newsroom.
Dad says he isn&#8217;t a hero. I would argue that point, but he can describe himself however he wants.
At first, he didn&#8217;t want to tell this story because the book would contain my darkest moments. So, we made a deal: I would write the manuscript and at the end, if he didn&#8217;t like it, we wouldn&#8217;t turn it in to HarperCollins. To be honest, I had no plan if he said he did not like it.
But at that moment of decision, I asked him a question: If, when I was originally diagnosed, the psychologist had given him our book “Born Lucky’ (rather than saying there was not much to do), how would he have felt?
He responded that he would have read it every week because it would give him hope.
The book is hope for every parent with a kid who is struggling, not just with autism but anxiety, ADHD, difficulty at school, etc., and proof of what a father and mother’s love can do.
That’s why I asked my dad to write the afterword in the book in the form of thoughts for parents facing some of the same challenges he did.
I would like to share that with you now.
— Leland Vittert
<div id="attachment_985155" style="width: 394px" class="wp-caption aligncenter"><a href="https://www.amazon.com/Born-Lucky-Dedicated-Grateful-Journey/dp/140025468X/ref=sr_1_1?crid=3O3L1UKLC7BU8&amp;dib=eyJ2IjoiMSJ9.MCP08BnE6vI4ikVNkhJBg72CUwiVpmvlL8qZybVTSZLx_BEqUQGmyDmGpK7jXlU7iZCcob-eOUDY6rbg3C1NjBxWSU2Qe7cCc8CaNp8qCwQ7jeHWCo-3GvFE_ZYtE5X1HiiDd4mb-Kg5aF8mQtn0KNs6EYCmCB-12b31vB_-5jrAx6Zuj6Gsjf3oFbwy2yo9QmShQlmJ7m55riGBazN3-QDQblrGsUiWAs0R9M9NLPk.z4MTp6JWwZEIj8QmHoKGWHoBiTGIr1B6V_Uz9VbpCLo&amp;dib_tag=se&amp;keywords=vittert&amp;qid=1760449473&amp;s=books&amp;sprefix=vittert%2Cstripbooks%2C112&amp;sr=1-1"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-985155" class="size-large wp-image-985155" src="https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/10/MixCollage-13-Oct-2025-12-47-PM-5986-384x576.jpg" alt="Cover credit: Harper Horizon" width="384" height="576" srcset="https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/10/MixCollage-13-Oct-2025-12-47-PM-5986-384x576.jpg 384w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/10/MixCollage-13-Oct-2025-12-47-PM-5986-200x300.jpg 200w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/10/MixCollage-13-Oct-2025-12-47-PM-5986-768x1152.jpg 768w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/10/MixCollage-13-Oct-2025-12-47-PM-5986-1024x1536.jpg 1024w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/10/MixCollage-13-Oct-2025-12-47-PM-5986-1365x2048.jpg 1365w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/10/MixCollage-13-Oct-2025-12-47-PM-5986-1360x2040.jpg 1360w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/10/MixCollage-13-Oct-2025-12-47-PM-5986-scaled.jpg 1707w" sizes=" (max-width: 384px) 100vw, 384px" /></a>Cover credit: Harper Horizon</div>
* * *
The following excerpt is taken from the Afterword from the book &#8220;<a href="https://www.amazon.com/Born-Lucky-Dedicated-Grateful-Journey/dp/140025468X/?_encoding=UTF8&amp;pd_rd_w=M2Kgd&amp;content-id=amzn1.sym.4efc43db-939e-4a80-abaf-50c6a6b8c631%3Aamzn1.symc.5a16118f-86f0-44cd-8e3e-6c5f82df43d0&amp;pf_rd_p=4efc43db-939e-4a80-abaf-50c6a6b8c631&amp;pf_rd_r=ZH2H6KCH5RD7206BW8AE&amp;pd_rd_wg=ZzvPM&amp;pd_rd_r=39261712-bad5-42ce-93ea-31acd52c574f&amp;ref_=pd_hp_d_atf_ci_mcx_mr_ca_hp_atf_d">Born Lucky: A Dedicated Father, A Grateful Son, and My Journey with Autism</a>,&#8221; by Leland Vittert with Don Yaeger. (Harper Horizon, September 2025).
 * * *
<h3>Afterword From Dad</h3>
As you have already read, Lucky, decades ago, placed me on a pedestal.
This occurred simply as a result of his fundamental needs, that there was no one else, no other man, to help him and hold him. Consequently, it might appear in this book that I offered him support as a secure and knowledgeable father. That was not true.
I was scared for years. I still am to a degree, uncertain quite often and holding on for my family till sleep comes, bringing a few hours of peace.
For all of us who are in the most difficult and complex battle to help our special children survive, there is no finish line.
I am positive that every father and mother engaged in the monumental effort to help and protect and love our challenged children are dealing with the same issues.
Believe me, despite Lucky’s admiration, I did only what any father would want to do.
All of us in this battle, this fight against what feels like the world has left our side, are in the same place.
We all feel enormous love and responsibility to those little ones who are absolutely lost and, without us, alone. Mothers and fathers need to know that there is definitely hope.
I am not that smart nor capable to have known what to do for him, except to love him and listen always to his cries for help, and to enlist a couple of personal rules that seemed to make sense in a frightening circumstance.
Let me say that his mother, Carol, was the unsung angel here. She not only had to hold Lucky, but also me.
<div id="attachment_985497" style="width: 1034px" class="wp-caption aligncenter"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-985497" class="size-large wp-image-985497" src="https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/10/81f71ca0-3ba6-4bba-99a5-3eea97064c98-1024x576.jpg" alt="Credit: Leland Vittert" width="1024" height="576" srcset="https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/10/81f71ca0-3ba6-4bba-99a5-3eea97064c98-1024x576.jpg 1024w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/10/81f71ca0-3ba6-4bba-99a5-3eea97064c98-300x169.jpg 300w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/10/81f71ca0-3ba6-4bba-99a5-3eea97064c98-768x432.jpg 768w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/10/81f71ca0-3ba6-4bba-99a5-3eea97064c98-1536x863.jpg 1536w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/10/81f71ca0-3ba6-4bba-99a5-3eea97064c98.jpg 1829w" sizes=" (max-width: 1024px) 100vw, 1024px" />Credit: Leland Vittert</div>
I really did not know what was ahead, who could help, or if the verdict was just “give up.” Well, the purpose of this book is to offer hope, real hope. Here are the principles that I wrote down for myself when Lucky was diagnosed:
<ol>
<li style="font-weight: 400;" aria-level="1">Have no expectations about the future.</li>
<li style="font-weight: 400;" aria-level="1">Under no circumstances let your child feel that they have ever disappointed you. EVER, under no circumstance.</li>
<li style="font-weight: 400;" aria-level="1">You are the depository of their hurt, their frustration, and their humiliations. You must listen and listen—morning before school and late into the night.</li>
<li style="font-weight: 400;" aria-level="1">Tell them that they have the right stuff for life. That the currency of high school, etc., is not the currency of life. There are many more years after the six years of junior high and high school.</li>
</ol>
There were times where I reflexively responded to a seemingly endless difficult day with temper. Those were the most regrettable of times.
I fully understand that so many had and will have far more significant challenges and difficulties than we had.
You will need to remember that your child will continue, no matter the advancement, to simply be themself. This is not a broken arm that heals; it is the way they were made.
Together, whatever the circumstance or how dire the situation, there is hope, good hope, but it will require endless understanding and the firm belief that your child can be better.
With the advent of so much bullying and other negative effects from today’s social media culture, it will be hard to escape. We did not have to address that issue.
We did not discuss Lucky’s issues or labels with anyone, nor did we seek outside assistance. Perhaps that would have been better. I do not know.
Whatever your child’s issue, I believe their best chance to progress is you and your love and patience and, in particular, your unwavering belief in them.
It was felt that writing this book could possibly help. There are so many of us who were and are lost in the nightmare of this despair.
If you are in this fight, it will be a challenge that is the most worthwhile of your life. It will probably take years and years, but it will be worth it.
If someone would have told me about what the future held for our little boy, I would have likely yielded right then. I would have been terribly wrong to do so.
If I can do it, you can. You can make an enormous difference for the ones you love dearly.
With all my heart, I wish for you and your child a future that you will make better together.
— Mark Vittert
* * *
This excerpt is published by permission from Harper Horizon. &#8220;<a href="https://www.amazon.com/Born-Lucky-Dedicated-Grateful-Journey/dp/140025468X/?_encoding=UTF8&amp;pd_rd_w=M2Kgd&amp;content-id=amzn1.sym.4efc43db-939e-4a80-abaf-50c6a6b8c631%3Aamzn1.symc.5a16118f-86f0-44cd-8e3e-6c5f82df43d0&amp;pf_rd_p=4efc43db-939e-4a80-abaf-50c6a6b8c631&amp;pf_rd_r=ZH2H6KCH5RD7206BW8AE&amp;pd_rd_wg=ZzvPM&amp;pd_rd_r=39261712-bad5-42ce-93ea-31acd52c574f&amp;ref_=pd_hp_d_atf_ci_mcx_mr_ca_hp_atf_d">Born Lucky: A Dedicated Father, A Grateful Son, and My Journey with Autism</a>,&#8221; by Leland Vittert with Don Yaeger. (Harper Horizon, September 2025).
The views expressed in this piece are those of the author and do not necessarily represent those of The Daily Wire.
<a href="https://get.dailywire.com/subscribe/plus/?utm_campaign=fall40&amp;utm_content=fallsale&amp;utm_medium=website&amp;utm_source=editorial">Get 40% off new DailyWire+ annual memberships with code FALL40 at checkout!</a>

Leland Vittert book IV

‘My Father Never Gave Up On Me’: Leland Vittert On Being ‘Born Lucky’

'My Father Never Gave Up On Me': Leland Vittert On Being 'Born Lucky'

Autism

Books

Children

family

Fathers

Media

Parenting

Social Issues

In light of the recent loss of Charlie Kirk, we have to seriously reconsider the level of radical indoctrination in our <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/topic/public-schools">public schools</a> — and not just at the collegiate level. The hostility that fueled such an attack doesn’t appear out of thin air. It begins in classrooms where children are taught to despise their country, question their God-given identity, and see their parents as obstacles rather than protectors. By the time students reach college, the soil has already been prepared by years of quiet but intentional indoctrination. The loss of Charlie should also serve as a rallying cry — a reminder of the price conservatives are paying in this cultural battle and the urgency to confront it head-on.
This is why the fight against gender ideology in our K–12 schools cannot wait. It is not a side issue or a distraction from “real politics.” It is the heart of the cultural crisis America faces. If children are trained from kindergarten to see themselves through the lens of gender theory rather than truth, faith, and family, then we should not be surprised when that worldview matures into radicalism, activism, and, eventually, violence.
For decades, conservatives assumed the worst indoctrination happened on college campuses. That was a mistake. Elementary schools are where the work begins — through school counselors, taxpayer-funded SEL programs, and activist-approved library shelves. Children are introduced to gender confusion long before they ever take an SAT or apply to a university. By the time they arrive on campus, the indoctrination is already deeply rooted.
Florida recognized this and acted decisively. In 2022, the state passed the Parental Rights in Education Act (<a href="https://www.flhouse.gov/Sections/Documents/loaddoc.aspx?FileName=_h1557er.docx&amp;DocumentType=Bill&amp;BillNumber=1557&amp;Session=2022">HB 1557</a>), banning classroom instruction on sexual orientation and gender identity in kindergarten through third grade. In 2023, lawmakers expanded the law to apply through eighth grade and specifically addressed the use of pronouns. The Florida Board of Education later broadened protections further to cover all K–12 grades. Additional bills like <a href="https://www.flhouse.gov/Sections/Documents/loaddoc.aspx?FileName=_h1069er.docx&amp;DocumentType=Bill&amp;BillNumber=1069&amp;Session=2023">HB 1069</a> reaffirmed that sex is biologically determined at birth, while <a href="https://www.flhouse.gov/Sections/Documents/loaddoc.aspx?FileName=_s0254er.DOCX&amp;DocumentType=Bill&amp;BillNumber=254&amp;Session=2023">SB 254</a> placed restrictions on gender-related medical interventions for minors.
What made this possible was the partnership of strong leadership at the top — Gov. Ron DeSantis and a conservative state school board — combined with parents pushing relentlessly from the bottom up. Importantly, the state school board did not wait for the legislature to act again; they used their authority to pass stronger policies when they saw the need. This kind of backbone is missing in school boards across the country, but it is the critical piece in reclaiming our public school systems. That partnership is the model every red state must follow if we want to preserve the innocence of children and the authority of parents.
Florida shows that the combination of political courage and grassroots activism can shift the culture of public schools. Parents had been voicing concerns for years about radical curricula, library materials, and counselors undermining parental authority. Instead of dismissing those voices, the leadership of Florida embraced them, amplifying the parents rather than silencing them. That is the blueprint. This bottom-up and top-down unity is what makes Florida distinct — and it is why conservative parents in other states look to Florida as proof that this fight can be won.
On the other end of the spectrum is California, where the guardrails are gone. Gov. Gavin Newsom signed the SAFETY Act (<a href="https://leginfo.legislature.ca.gov/faces/billTextClient.xhtml?bill_id=202320240AB1955">AB 1955</a>), which allows schools to conceal a child’s new gender identity or pronouns from parents. San Diego schools have run classroom programs with books like <a href="https://www.iwfeatures.com/profile/controversy-erupts-in-california-school-district-over-radical-gender-ideology-in-classrooms/">My Shadow Is Pink</a>, asking fifth graders to guide kindergartners through gender-identity exercises without parental notification. And when teachers object on religious grounds — such as the Oakland kindergarten teacher fired for refusing to use pronouns that violated her conscience — the state sides with ideology, not faith or family.
California also recently lost more than $12 million in federal funding for refusing to strip “radical gender ideology” from its sex-education curriculum. Instead of correcting course, the state doubled down. This is the America our children will inherit if red states fail to act.
The danger in California isn’t limited to its own borders. Policies that begin there often spread nationwide through activist groups, teacher unions, and national curriculum providers. A book that appears in a Los Angeles classroom one year often shows up in a red-state district the next. Without strong protections, even conservative communities will find themselves importing California’s chaos. That is why the example of California should serve as both a warning and a motivator: if red states do not proactively legislate, they will be pulled in the same direction by cultural and institutional pressures.
President Trump recently issued an <a href="https://www.federalregister.gov/documents/2025/01/24/2025-01567/removing-radical-gender-ideology-from-federally-funded-education-programs">executive order</a> directing the removal of radical gender ideology from federally funded education programs. That is an important step — but executive orders are temporary. What one president does, the next can undo. And without strong state-level laws, even Trump’s order cannot stop what continues to happen in liberal states like California, where ideology is embedded in classrooms regardless of federal guidance.
That’s why red states must codify protections into permanent law. And they must add accountability measures with real teeth:
<ul>
<li style="font-weight: 400;" aria-level="1">Immediate removal from the classroom if teachers or counselors push gender ideology in violation of the law.</li>
<li style="font-weight: 400;" aria-level="1">Revocation of teaching licenses so offenders cannot simply move districts or cross state lines to continue indoctrinating children.</li>
</ul>
Parents deserve more than symbolism — they deserve action. Conservative lawmakers must remember that parents are not asking for suggestions or guidelines — they are demanding laws that protect their rights and their children. Laws without accountability are empty. A policy without enforcement is a wish list. If red states want to be serious, they need to back up their words with actions that make the cost of violating parental rights unacceptably high.
Conservative states now have both the opportunity and the obligation to act. Parents are fleeing states like California in search of places where their children can be raised in safety, truth, and faith. Red states must be those safe havens. That means more than political slogans — it means codifying into law the protections families need to preserve faith-based values and the authority of parents.
If conservatives fail here, the exodus from blue states will only accelerate, but families will arrive to find that their “safe haven” is just another battleground. Conservative parents are looking for states where school boards act decisively, legislatures put children first, and governors refuse to bend to woke corporations or activist lobbies. They want leaders who will not only defend but advance the values of family, faith, and freedom.
Red states across the country now have the opportunity and the backing of parents — and if legislators refuse, they should be replaced with leaders who will. The loss of Charlie has only deepened conservatives’ resolve, reminding us of the urgency and the cultural impact of his fight.
The line is clear: pass laws protecting children from gender ideology with real accountability, and pass them first — or prepare to face a reckoning at the ballot box. Our children are not bargaining chips. They are the future of America, and they deserve to be defended. Until states pass binding protections, even Trump’s executive order cannot shield families from the spread of radical ideology in liberal states — making state action urgent and non-negotiable.
* * *
Emily Jones is a mother, community organizer, and candidate for the Alabama State Board of Education. Known as “The Controversial Mom,” she advocates for parental rights, faith-based values, and stronger accountability in public schools.
The views expressed in this piece are those of the author and do not necessarily represent those of The Daily Wire.

MixCollage-25-Sep-2025-09-06-AM-6432

Why Red States Must Crush Gender Ideology In The Classroom

Activists

Elementary Schools

Gender

Parental Rights in Education

Teachers

Parents, educators and community leaders recently attended a Fairfax County School Board meeting in Virginia to ask questions about an <a href="https://www.foxnews.com/media/virginia-school-system-investigating-claims-staff-arranged-students-abortions-without-parental-consent">alleged coerced abortion case</a> involving two Hispanic minors at Centreville High School.
Centreville High School has a <a href="https://urldefense.com/v3/__https://www.usnews.com/education/best-high-schools/virginia/districts/fairfax-county-public-schools/centreville-high-school-20462__;!!PxibshUo2Yr_Ta5B!z-3bjZRUUFzVpcjUUXeCnOmT5iO0fbyCiy8sK0gxSSxuJkQ3-e2SK8nKwzsT-qgLY1fjiIEr7WbqqhMTXRP5j4yv$">minority enrollment</a> of 69%, and 32% of its students are economically disadvantaged. For pregnancy matters, the school’s policy states that students are encouraged to discuss their concerns with their parents.
The whistleblower at the school, Zenaida Perez, is an English as a Second Language (ESL) Teacher and is originally from Cuba. She immigrated to the United States in 1990 and holds a master’s degree in ESL.
Perez claims that, beginning in 2022, she discovered a social worker was arranging and paying for minor girls to obtain abortions without parental knowledge or consent, which is required in the state of Virginia.
She reportedly brought her concerns to school administrators seven times. But instead of district officials addressing these allegations, Perez says she experienced bullying from administrators and attempts from the school to <a href="https://urldefense.com/v3/__https://www.fairfaxtimes.com/articles/governor-orders-criminal-probe-into-alleged-abortions-at-centreville-high-school/article_a1c3bc41-9b17-4ac1-8187-70eaa7de4ca3.html__;!!PxibshUo2Yr_Ta5B!z-3bjZRUUFzVpcjUUXeCnOmT5iO0fbyCiy8sK0gxSSxuJkQ3-e2SK8nKwzsT-qgLY1fjiIEr7WbqqhMTXUI6JXVn$">undermine her integrity</a> by falsely accusing her of handing out pregnancy tests to students.
The allegations are deeply troubling given both of the girls involved were underage. Perez says that one student, who was five months pregnant and wanting to keep her baby, said she felt like she “had no choice.” The other girl told Perez she was terrified because her legal guardians did not know about her abortion.
Worried parents in attendance at the school board meeting questioned whether these were isolated incidents or part of a broader pattern of overriding parental rights and disregarding state law.
Most Americans <a href="https://urldefense.com/v3/__https://www.politico.com/news/2023/05/16/democrats-gop-parental-notification-abortion-laws-00097245__;!!PxibshUo2Yr_Ta5B!z-3bjZRUUFzVpcjUUXeCnOmT5iO0fbyCiy8sK0gxSSxuJkQ3-e2SK8nKwzsT-qgLY1fjiIEr7WbqqhMTXYCxdjTu$">support</a> parental consent for abortion as they recognize that life-and-death decisions should not be made without parental guidance. In Troxel v. Granville, the United States Supreme Court affirmed the fundamental rights of “parents in the care, custody, and control of their children,” and 36 states require parental involvement in abortion-related decisions for minors.
Despite the guarantee of parental rights, Virginia is attempting to strip them from the abortion equation by passing <a href="https://lis.virginia.gov/bill-details/20251/HJ1">House Joint Resolution 1</a>, a constitutional amendment that enshrines intentionally broad &#8220;reproductive freedom&#8221; as a right in the state constitution.
The Centreville High School case also underscores over a half-century of abuse by so-called &#8220;reproductive health care&#8221; advocates targeting minority communities for abortion.
Sadly, abortion peddlers know impoverished minority girls are abortion-vulnerable due to the broader inequalities they face, like racial prejudice, economic disparities, and access to authentic health care. They are also unlikely to resist coercion, especially when it comes from authority figures like school officials.
Their struggles are not just statistics to me, because I lived them. I grew up in the middle of the same kind of hardship after my mother’s <a href="https://urldefense.com/v3/__https://aul.org/author/sarah-zagorskiaul-org/__;!!PxibshUo2Yr_Ta5B!z-3bjZRUUFzVpcjUUXeCnOmT5iO0fbyCiy8sK0gxSSxuJkQ3-e2SK8nKwzsT-qgLY1fjiIEr7WbqqhMTXYscX0kk$">attempted abortion</a> with me. She had come to the U.S. from Honduras, already struggling to raise seven children she couldn’t provide for, trapped in an abusive home. She too believed she had no other choice.
She did defy coercion from her abortion physician in the end, but this kind of resistance is rare. Victims are often threatened, manipulated, and face real barriers like lack of money, absence of support, or fear for their safety.
I am thankful that the Governor Glenn Youngkin has directed the state police to open a criminal investigation into the case. Parental rights should not be usurped, and school employees have no right to hide secret abortions from parents.
Children need protection and parental guidance, especially when faced with an unplanned pregnancy, not forced secrecy by adults attempting to usurp fundamental rights of parents to make decisions regarding the wellbeing of their children.
Girls from marginalized communities, including Hispanic girls from Centreville High School, deserve better than betrayal from people they should trust and cover-ups by school bureaucrats.
* * *
<a href="https://aul.org/author/sarah-zagorskiaul-org/">Sarah Zagorski</a> is the Senior Director of Public Relations and Communication at Americans United for Life.
The views expressed in this piece are those of the author and do not necessarily represent those of The Daily Wire.

High School Students Walking in a Hallway

Whistleblower Uncovers Secret Abortion Scandal At Virginia High School. Parents Deserve Better.

Abortion

Glenn Youngkin

Hispanics

Pro-Life Movement

Virginia

Across the country, Democrats and Republicans are united in their determination to get cellphones out of classrooms.
From Florida and Virginia to New York and North Dakota, over half of U.S. states have taken real steps to restrict or ban cellphone use in K-12 schools, according to the Parents Television and Media Council’s <a href="https://www.parentstv.org/resources/PDF/Studies/2025-School-Phone-Policies-Update.pdf" target="_blank" rel="noopener">latest survey</a> of state phone policies.
They&#8217;re responding to a growing body of research — and public outcry — showing that smartphones and social media are damaging student achievement, mental health, and classroom discipline.
According to a 2023 Pew Research Center survey, 72% of American high school teachers say cellphone distraction is a major problem in their classrooms. One 2018 Rutgers study found that students who used phones during class scored lower on their final exams — as did students sitting near them, even if they weren’t using devices themselves. The London School of Economics reached the same conclusion: just having a phone within sight can reduce academic performance.
But the issue goes far beyond academics. Since smartphones became widespread, mental health among adolescents has been in sharp decline. Since 2010, suicide rates among preteen girls have risen by more than 160%. Boys aged 10–14 have seen a 91% increase. Much of this can be traced to social media addiction, cyberbullying, sextortion, fear of missing out, and algorithms that lead users to increasingly extreme content.
The truth is, for years, we’ve been sold the lie that giving kids unfettered access to technology would prepare them for the future. What it’s done instead is isolate them, addict them, and rob them of the ability to focus and relate in real life.
State legislators are doing what Congress so far has not: taking decisive action to protect America’s children from the harmful effects of digital addiction.
As of now, over 30 states have passed or advanced school-based smartphone policies. Even California — home to Silicon Valley — is moving toward mandated restrictions.
These state-level reforms demonstrate a willingness to tackle the problem head-on: “bell-to-bell” bans that restrict phone use throughout the school day, new funding for secure storage solutions, pilot programs to test best practices, and mandates to block access to social media on school Wi-Fi.
And they aren’t coming from a single party or ideology. Lawmakers on both sides of the aisle recognize that tech-fueled distraction and distress have reached a crisis point — and local communities are demanding solutions.
Meanwhile, in Washington, Congress has yet to pass a single major law addressing the mental health fallout from kids’ digital dependence.
Parents are doing their part — but they are being asked to work alone to combat a multibillion-dollar industry that has integrated psychological manipulation into their business model. They need help — from schools, from tech companies, and especially from Congress.
It’s time for federal lawmakers to stop dragging their feet and caving to Big Tech interests by finally passing the Kids Online Safety Act.
This bipartisan bill would create a duty of care for online platforms to prevent harm to minors. It would give parents more control, limit manipulative algorithms, and require platforms to default to the safest settings for young users.
Congress could also take the former Surgeon General’s suggestion and require warning labels to be added to social media platforms, as New York and Minnesota already have. It’s one common-sense solution among many that rightly aims to confront social media harms
School cellphone bans alone won’t solve the youth mental health crisis. That will require a unified effort from states, the federal government, parents, and teachers. Restricting kids’ access to phones during the day is a critical first step in combatting their digital dependence — and the broad, bipartisan support for these policies should serve as an example of what can be done.
Our children deserve better. So do the parents and teachers working hard to raise and educate them.
Congress should be the force that empowers these efforts — not the obstacle standing in the way.
Melissa Henson is the vice president of the <a href="http://www.parentstv.org/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Parents Television and Media Council</a>, a nonpartisan education organization advocating responsible entertainment. Follow them on X @ThePTC
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<div id="post-body-text">
<div class="ep1tdco0 css-fgibv1">
The views expressed in this piece are those of the author and do not necessarily represent those of The Daily Wire.
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Teenagers using cellphones

States Are Leading The Fight On Cellphones In School. Why Isn’t Congress?

cell phones

Congress

K-12

Mental Health

As a mother, advocate, and candidate for the Alabama State School Board, I’ve seen firsthand how the quiet march of artificial intelligence (AI) into our public school classrooms is happening with little public awareness and even less parental consent. While the tech industry touts AI as the future of education, the reality is far more complicated — and in many ways, far more dangerous.
This is not a debate about whether technology belongs in schools. It’s a call to pause, evaluate, and protect children before we hand over their data, emotions, and daily experiences to unregulated machines.
Across the country, AI tools are already embedded in software used in classrooms — often installed by default on school-issued devices without informing parents. These tools don’t just support learning; they track facial expressions, predict emotional states, and collect vast amounts of personal information. When I raised concerns in my local district, even administrators admitted they didn’t know the apps even existed on the machines.
It gets worse. Some AI systems store data on third-party servers, outside the reach of school district oversight. Parents rarely have access to this data, don’t know who can see it, and can’t opt out. In many cases, children are being profiled and emotionally analyzed without ever giving meaningful consent.
And this is happening to minors. Children who legally cannot open a bank account or create a social media profile without parental consent are being subjected to predictive algorithms inside the classroom.
Advocates of classroom AI say it improves safety by detecting potential threats. In tech-heavy communities like Huntsville, Alabama, some districts have adopted facial recognition and behavioral analytics to monitor students. But these programs raise urgent questions: What happens when a system flags a student incorrectly? What emotional harm comes from constant surveillance? And what precedent does this set for future generations?
We are raising children in what author Jonathan Haidt calls The Anxious Generation — a generation already plagued by rising anxiety, isolation, and digital dependence. Normalizing AI surveillance in their learning environments only exacerbates these problems. It teaches kids to perform for machines rather than relate to people. It chips away at trust between students and teachers, families and schools.
The good news? People are starting to take action.
First Lady Melania Trump has championed child protections in the digital age. She recently celebrated the signing of the Take It Down Act, legislation backed by the Trump administration to remove explicit AI-generated content involving minors from the internet. This is a critical step in the right direction.
But classroom AI poses a broader risk. We need transparency, oversight, and parental rights built into the law. I’m advocating for a model policy that any state can adopt:
<ul>
<li style="font-weight: 400;" aria-level="1">A ban on emotion-detecting and behavior-predicting AI systems in schools</li>
<li style="font-weight: 400;" aria-level="1">Mandatory parental opt-in before AI tools can be used on students</li>
<li style="font-weight: 400;" aria-level="1">Transparency requirements for all EdTech vendors</li>
<li style="font-weight: 400;" aria-level="1">Annual AI ethics and data privacy training for school staff</li>
<li style="font-weight: 400;" aria-level="1">A statewide or state-level task force to assess AI impact, report findings, and recommend guardrails</li>
</ul>
Local school boards don’t need to wait for Washington or their state capitol. They can start now:
<ul>
<li style="font-weight: 400;" aria-level="1">Audit every digital tool currently in use</li>
<li style="font-weight: 400;" aria-level="1">Inform parents</li>
<li style="font-weight: 400;" aria-level="1">Pause new AI adoption until clear guardrails are in place</li>
</ul>
We must ask ourselves: Are we solving real problems with AI in classrooms, or creating new ones we don’t yet understand?
This isn’t anti-technology. It’s pro-accountability. Pro-parent. Pro-child.
Whether you live in Alabama, California, or anywhere in between, your school district likely has AI embedded in ways you never imagined. It’s time to demand transparency, ask hard questions, and ensure that no child becomes a test subject for Big Tech.
Let’s make this a national conversation. Let’s protect the classroom.
* * *
Emily Jones, a North Alabama native and founder of the state’s first Moms for Liberty chapter, is running for the Alabama State School Board to restore excellence to a system in decline. Like many parents, COVID-era schooling opened her eyes to just how far our public education system has fallen—from slipping academic standards to a breakdown in trust between families and schools. With Alabama ranking 45th in the nation, we must ask: what are we doing to stop the slide? Emily is committed to rebuilding the vital partnership between parents and teachers and restoring classrooms as places where educators are empowered to teach and students are expected to thrive. It’s time to raise the bar for Alabama’s children.
The views expressed in this piece are those of the author and do not necessarily represent those of The Daily Wire.

Science and education concept. AI (Artificial Intelligence).

We Need Parental Consent For AI In The Classroom

Artificial Intelligence

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Every year, millions of high school students across the country dream of attending America’s most selective colleges. In California, that goal may be harder to reach as pro-affirmative action lawmakers push for new ways to give certain groups a leg up in admissions.
As a high school junior in San Jose, I will be applying to college next year. Students like me are taking AP classes, building their profiles, and doing everything we’ve been told to help us get into the schools of our choice.
The system is far from perfect but the basic premise is that colleges will then, in good faith, try to weigh each applicant based on merit and context. No group receives an unearned advantage at the expense of others.
<a href="https://legiscan.com/CA/text/AB7/id/3029617">California Assembly Bill 7</a> (AB7) blows a hole in that idea.
The bill, which recently passed in the Assembly by a 54–17 vote, would allow California public universities to consider whether an applicant is “a descendant of a chattel enslaved person of American chattel slavery.” It’s part of <a href="https://blackcaucus.legislature.ca.gov/news/california-legislative-black-caucus-introduces-2024-reparations-legislative-package">a broader reparations push</a> and now headed to the state Senate.
The bill’s author, Assemblymember Isaac Bryan, says it’s not about race but historic harm. “For decades, universities gave preferential admission treatment to donors, and their family members, while others tied to legacies of harm were ignored and at times outright excluded,” Bryan <a href="https://apnews.com/article/california-universities-slavery-descendants-admissions-4b0e84c27b40725a9f7929b230a591ca">told the Associated Press</a>. 
He’s right about history. The legacy of slavery has shaped socioeconomic outcomes for Black Americans. But that doesn’t mean all descendants of slavery are disadvantaged — or that ancestry should now serve as some kind of admissions shortcut.
That distinction seems to be missing from the conversation. What we’re left with is a bill that awards preference based on ancestry.
This bill proposes an eligibility line drawn by lineage. To be clear, the text does not use the words “Black” or “African American” but rather delineates a specific historical category, “descendants of U.S. chattel slavery,” without using racial language. It’s designed to sidestep Proposition 209, which banned racial preferences in 1996, and the Supreme Court’s 2023 ruling in Students for Fair Admissions that struck down affirmative action nationwide.
Legal scholars describe such policies as “race proxies”: mechanisms that dodge explicit racial language but preserve race as the decisive factor in practice. Courts have repeatedly scrutinized such end-runs: in Parents Involved v. Seattle, <a href="https://www.oyez.org/cases/2006/05-908">the Supreme Court warned</a> against policies that look constructive but act as racial stand-ins.
The legal system has long treated ancestral classifications with the same suspicion as racial ones. In Hirabayashi v. United States, the 1943 case on Japanese-American internment, <a href="https://edge.sagepub.com/epsteinpowers11e/student-resources/chapter-5-interbranch-interactions/hirabayashi-v-united-states">the Court held</a> that “distinctions between citizens solely because of their ancestry are by their very nature odious to a free people whose institutions are founded upon the doctrine of equality.” Moreover, the express text of Proposition 209 includes “ethnicity” in its enumeration of protected categories as well as race.
The bill defines a “descendant of slavery” as someone whose ancestors were enslaved specifically in the United States, meaning it would exclude many Black students whose families came from Africa or the Caribbean after abolition. Meanwhile, someone who identifies as white but has traced a distant enslaved ancestry through DNA testing could, in theory, qualify. And we know these terms circle a ridiculously arbitrary line. African American activist Angela Davis <a href="https://www.today.com/popculture/tv/angela-davis-finding-your-roots-mayflower-ancestors-rcna71700">went on PBS’s</a> ancestry show Finding Your Roots only to find out she’s a descendent from Mayflower colonists. She was mortified.
But even if Bryan turns out to be right on the legal question, does the technical distinction between race and ancestry suddenly make it fair to those it excludes?
No. Ancestry-based preferences would still have effectively all the same downsides as other affirmative action policies: lack of individual assessment, blunt group categorization, and fairness concerns for everyone else. As Chief Justice John Roberts <a href="https://www.supremecourt.gov/opinions/22pdf/20-1199_hgdj.pdf">wrote in the SFFA majority opinion</a>: “College admissions are zero-sum. A benefit provided to some applicants but not to others necessarily advantages the former group at the expense of the latter.”
Even if preference is framed as reparative, someone else is paying the price.
There are better options to help marginalized students. California lawmakers could index Cal Grants to local cost of living. They could strengthen the UC/CSU admission guarantees for top students at public high schools. They could improve outreach around community college transfer guarantees or pass bills like <a href="https://www.padilla.senate.gov/wp-content/uploads/BASIC-Act-One-Pager.pdf">the BASIC Act</a>, which would give colleges resources to help students cover food, housing, and health care.
This bill, by contrast, like other affirmative action-adjacent legislation before it, assumes inherited identity stands in for “lived struggle.” It doesn’t.
We don’t need another lecture on systemic inequality. We see the results of it in classmates of all backgrounds who stop aiming high because they don’t think college is for them, or can’t imagine paying for it.
The California Senate should reject this bill and pursue fairer solutions, rather than advancing a measure the Supreme Court is likely to strike down.
* * *
William Liang is a student journalist living in San Jose, California.
The views expressed in this piece are those of the author and do not necessarily represent those of The Daily Wire.

Stanford Graduate School of Business

I’m Preparing For College. California’s New Slavery Bill Could Change Everything.

I’m Preparing for College. California’s New Slavery Bill Could Change Everything.

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