Rescue your kids from the culture's predators

At a time when the traditional American family is under more attack than ever, Rebecca Hagelin of the Heritage Foundation has written an important book, "30 Ways in 30 Days to Save Your Family," designed to provide practical advice for how parents can communicate with today's media-besieged children.

"Ninety percent of all kids on the Internet will be subjected to the sexual images and perverted values of online pornographers, and it all happens under your roof," Hagelin says. "The good news is that this is one of the problems parents can fix in minutes."

Hagelin's new book builds successfully on her 2005 best-seller, "Home Invasion: Protecting Your Family in a Culture that's Gone Stark Raving Mad."

Both of Hagelin's books reflect the concerns she shares in her columns – providing practical, down-to-earth suggestions for the simple steps parents can take to make a difference in their children's lives.

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Combined with WND managing editor David Kupelian's book "The Marketing of Evil: How Radicals, Elitists, and Psuedo-Exports Sell Us Corruption Disguised as Freedom," Hagelin's two books form an essential library for parents to understand the assault waged by a popular culture that sells daily an anti-God message of sex, gratuitous violence and self-indulgence to our children.

Both Hagelin and Kupelian are essential reads for parents who want to be aware of how successfully evil is marketed in the age of the Internet, cable television and iPods to our children, right within our homes.

"Today's kids are the most marketed-to generation in history," Hagelin writes. "They spend an estimated $200 billion a year of their own money, so they are very profitable targets for exploitation and manipulation. Combine this with the frequently manifested modern parental desire to be their children's best friend, and you can see why marketers compete like never before for the attention of these sophomoric spenders."

She notes nine out of 10 children who go online, many of them just to do their homework, end up viewing pornography, many for the first time and most unintentionally.

"I believe there should be a protected space in childhood where kids don't have sex forced upon them – physically or mentally," she insists. "And for crying out loud, if you as a mom or dad aren't building that space in your own home, how on earth can we expect them to have it anyplace else?"

Hagelin advises parents how best to get Internet filters that screen out pornography and other harmful content before our children are exposed to damage that cannot be easily reversed.

Her advice is straight-forward: "Don't walk silently past that Victoria's Secret display at your local mall. Tell your kids why it's wrong. Ask your children pointed questions about the TV shows and movies that interest them. Find out what they think – so you can spark discussions that will give you a chance to tell them what you think – and why."

All Hagelin's suggestions are practical.

Write your teen a letter, she advises.

"My guess is that most moms and dads have never penned more than a few words on a birthday card," she notes. "As valuable as those cards may be, they are not enough."

Hagelin suggests the letter to your child should include a clear statement of your love, your vision for their future, a prayer for them and a warm memory you have about their childhood. This sets the stage for positive words you have about your children's future and an expression of your strong commitment to be there for them, regardless of the circumstances the future may bring.

The Internet, television, cell phones and iPods may be marvels of modern communication, but they are also the tools skillful marketers intent on attacking God and traditional values use to get their message wired into our children's minds.

What makes Hagelin's writing so authentic is that she is a mother who writes openly about her own children, with a willingness to share her failures and her fears, as well as her successes and her hopes.

Any parent who reads WorldNetDaily regularly will certainly discover in Hagelin's "30 Ways in 30 Days to Save Your Family" one or more important steps not thought about before reading the book that he or she will want to make immediately a regular part of everyday life with their children.

Hagelin's "30 Ways in 30 Days to Save Your Family" should become every parent's handbook for developing practical approaches and ways of thinking that can be used in daily life to make sure the children we raise have the chance to live strong lives as spiritual adults who remain committed to passing on moral Christian values to our grandchildren.