tion, and contact organizations to talk about homosexuali-
ty without their parents’ knowledge. These are presented as
“options” or “ideas,” but they are more than that. Why would
you give children options you don’t want them to act on?
TWO EXAMPLES
Children are met with unbiblical views of sex and marriage
in public school classrooms and curricula. A high percent-
age of content comes from literature in the media center or
school library and as extracurricular books read aloud in the
classroom. As a result, many unbiblical messages go unde-
tected by parents and slowly erode a child’s faith in Christ
and belief in the Bible. Although many examples could be
chosen, I will introduce you to two books that embody the
essence of unbiblical teaching that confronts children today.
King and King, a picture book by Linda de Haan and Stern
Nijland, is read in many public school classrooms around
the country. 2 Written for children as young as kindergar-
ten, it follows a familiar storyline—that of a queen finding
her king—except with a twist: two men fall in love and get
married. The pictures in the book are descriptive and pres-
ent the two men as happy and their marriage as normal.
There are pictures of the men holding hands, participating
in a wedding ceremony, and kissing. No overt arguments are
made; a story is simply told. It is a powerful way to teach
young children an unbiblical view of marriage.
Another potent picture book, My Princess Boy, tells the
story of a young boy who wants to wear a dress to school but
fears being made fun of by his classmates. 3 Cheryl Kilodavis,
the boy’s mother, wrote the book to convince young children
to accept and not question people who want to dress and act
like those of the opposite gender. Children are encouraged
to view crossdressing, transgender individuals as no differ-
ent from others, suggesting that gender confusion is normal.
This storybook seeks to normalize transgenderism and can
lead to gender confusion by suggesting that it is acceptable
to reject our God-given gender.
By introducing you to these two books, I want to show
you firsthand how our children are being taught an unbib-
lical view of marriage and sex. Ideas are introduced when
children are young, then reinforced through different
avenues as children age. Parents are often unaware this is
happening. From the children’s point of view, they are being
read a picture book just like mom or dad would read before
bedtime. It seems harmless. But subtle, dangerous, unbib-
lical worldviews are being taught, and parents must know
about them and be proactive.
HOW SHOULD YOU RESPOND?
Parents must understand that public school literature is
increasingly sex-saturated and that many educators operate
with a missionary zeal to influence the beliefs of children.
14
Children are receiving a robust secular sex education and
being taught society’s views about marriage. As a result,
many children are absorbing a secular, self-indulgent,
anti-biblical worldview. At best, many young people are
confused about what is good, right, true, and noble related
to marriage and sex. At worst, they are being set on a trajec-
tory away from Christ.
Much is at stake. These are life-altering, eternity-impact-
ing, major worldview issues. The health of your child’s soul,
future marriage, walk with Jesus, and trajectory in life in
part depend on what he or she believes and how he or she
behaves when it comes to sex and marriage. Here are six
things you can do:
1. Do not allow your child to check out unvetted books
from the school library.
2. Request prenotification for every book that is read in
your child’s classroom.
3. Read your child’s curriculum and literature and discuss
unbiblical teachings about marriage and sex.
4. Opt your child out of classroom-based sex-education
teaching.
5. Consider Christian education. To learn more about a
biblical philosophy of education, I highly recommend
Glen Shultz’s book Kingdom Education.
6. Teach your child what the Bible says about marriage
and sex. I wrote Preparing Children for Marriage to
equip you for this task.
Parents have the critical job of articulating and embody-
ing a biblical vision of marriage and sex to their children.
Unless our children are well grounded in Scripture, they will
look more like the culture than Christ. Our children need
the soul-gripping, life-shaping words of Scripture to ground
them, to guide them, and to guard them.
Take a moment and think about your child. When your
child encounters a message about sex or marriage, like the
topics from SIECUS, is your child able to test what is said
against the Bible? Would your child be swayed to believe
and act on what is taught, or would he or she be able to spot
the error and stand firm in his or her faith? ■
Dr. Josh Mulvihill is the Executive Director of Church and Family Ministry at Renewanation.
He served as a pastor for nearly 20 years and helped launch The Legacy Coalition, a minis-
try that equips grandparents to pass faith on to future generations. He holds a Ph.D. from
Southern Baptist Theological Seminary. He is the author of Biblical Grandparenting and Pre-
paring Children for Marriage. Josh is married to Jen, and they have five children. Connect
with Josh on Twitter at @DrJoshMulvihill.
ENDNOTES
1. Guidelines for Comprehensive Sexuality Education: Kindergarten–12th Grade, 3rd Edition
(Sexuality Information and Education Council of the United States, 2004), https://siecus.
org/wp-content/uploads/2018/07/Guidelines-CSE.pdf.
2. Linda de Haan and Stern Nijland, King and King (Tricycle Press, 2003).
3. Cheryl Kilodavis, My Princess Boy (Aladdin, 2010).