How 'bout 'National Family Month'? Ideas for 2020

During June's LGBT Pride Month, we were schooled on being more understanding, tolerant, fair and inclusive in our increasingly diverse society. We will have another go at it in October during LGBTQ History Month. In April we will celebrate Earth Day's 50th anniversary, but I'll wager we won't be waiting until April 22 to start the festivities. Instead, April will no doubt be Earth MONTH, owing to the longer scolding we need for inflicting yet more damage on our soon-to-be uninhabitable planet.

The calendar ahead features dozens of other monthly observances. January includes National Slavery and Human Trafficking Prevention Month, February includes Black History Month, March includes Women's History Month, April is Sexual Assault Awareness Month, and May features National Pet Month. The summer lightens up, save for more LGBT Pride in June. Things get rolling again in September with National Hispanic Heritage Month and National Bullying Prevention Month, and October will mark, along with LGBTQ History, Breast Cancer Awareness – watch for the pink NFL garb. Things tail off again in November and December, begging for the calendars czars to conjure more opportunities to rally our country's attention to pressing issues.

Which brings me to my purpose: a modest proposal that we devote the 12 months in 2020 to causes not currently on the calendar of any state, city, company, or school, and certainly not blessed with any congressional designation or presidential decree. In our increasingly diverse society, it seems only fitting that we take a broader and more inclusive look at our cause-of-the-month observances.

I propose we start small – let's say, at all the nation's middle schools – with the following:

January: National Family Month. Students will explore the benefits of the nuclear family, where married mothers and fathers work together to nurture and raise their children to be productive citizens. Students will learn that the family – in all ages and across all cultures – has been the best unit within which to raise children. Students will also explore the effects of government policies, well-intended or otherwise, on family formation and family continuity, and they will examine the high rate a rate of poverty among single moms and their kids.

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February: National Fatherhood Month. Students will explore the roles dads traditionally play in the lives of their children. Students will study how fatherlessness contributes to childhood poverty, crime, incarceration, gang violence, drug use, failure in school, teen pregnancy, loneliness, depression and other problems. Students will also explore how government policies, the media, schools, Hollywood and other institutions have helped to create the crisis of fatherlessness. Good dads will visit the schools daily and explain how they support their families and children.

March: National Crime Prevention Month. Students will study the facts on crime in terms of who is committing it, where, how often and against whom. In doing so, students will rely on actual crime statistics instead of hyperbole and sensationalism. Special attention will be given to gun violence; for example, how black males in Chicago face infinitely higher odds of being shot than white kids in suburban schools. Policemen and policewomen will visit the schools daily and instruct the students on safety, staying out of trouble and respect for law enforcement.

April: National Science Month. Students will study the "scientific method" and its reliance on hypothesis, testing, measurement, proof and replicability. Particular attention will be paid to climate change and the difference between actual measurement vs. predictive models. Students will quantify the full costs of electricity produced from oil, coal, natural gas, wind and solar energy sources. They will also evaluate government subsidies to renewable energy companies, as well as the financial links between such companies and politicians. Students will also explore how something as noble as science can be hijacked and corrupted by greed, politics and pseudo-scientists.

May: National Personal Responsibility Month. Students will explore the difference between individual effort, improvement, achievement and reward vs. group victimization, entitlements and giveaways. Emphasis will be placed on individual decision-making and the consequences – positive and negative – of such decisions. The case study of Harvard University discriminating against high achieving Asian applicants will be included. Students will analyze the pros and cons of government programs aimed at promoting equality and inclusion, as well as the political pandering to special groups during election seasons.

June: National Education Month. Students will study the intrusions of political agendas into school curricula over the past 50 years. Teachers will discuss the benefits of school choice in letting parents decide on the method of schooling (public, private, charter, religious, cyber, home, etc.) that is best for their kids vs. the government mandates that force kids, particularly poor minority children, to stay in failing schools. The rise of teachers' unions and their financial links to politicians will be explored. Students will also discuss who should be responsible for paying for college loan debt and why college costs continue to soar.

July: National Military Month. Students will learn the importance of a strong American military, the meaning of deterrence, and when the full might of the military should be deployed. They will study the evils that Nazi Germany, Soviet Russia, Communist China and Islamic terrorism unleashed on the world and why military power is needed to contain current and potential threats. Students will compare the current use of the terms "Nazi" and "Fascist" as applied to the current administration with the historical record of Nazis and Fascists in the 1930s and 1940s. Military men and women will visit the schools daily to explain their duties and principles.

August: National Constitution Month. Students will study the Constitution and will learn how this extraordinary and timeless document enshrines the liberties and responsibilities of individuals while limiting the power and reach of government. Special attention will be paid to the Bill of Rights, particularly the First and Second Amendments, and how certain groups and individuals are eroding both. Students will also learn how a civil society depends on tolerance of unpopular speech and opinion, as well as respect for those with whom we disagree. The principles of Due Process, Rule of Law and Private Property also will be covered.

September: National Economics Month. From macro to micro, students will learn how countries should balance taxation, spending and debt; how households should approach income, spending and budgeting; and how individuals need to work, pay their bills and save for the future. Students will explore the difference between needs and wants, the need to defer spending on items they cannot afford, and the imperative to build the skills needed to support themselves and their dependents. Students will also learn about principal, interest and loan amortization, along with the problems that easy credit and reliance on government can create.

October: National Free Markets Month. Students will learn how Socialism, from its foundation in Soviet Russia to present day North Korea and Venezuela, has utterly failed to deliver on its false promises of well-being and equality. Particular attention will be paid to the government-directed planning that caused the mass starvation of millions of Russians, Ukrainians, and Chinese. These Socialist failures will be contrasted with the unique marvels of modern capitalism which has allowed hundreds of millions of people to escape poverty, misery, ignorance and disease through free enterprise, the profit motive, and freedom from the shackles of government interference, over-regulation and corruption.

November: National Sanctity of Life Month. Students will learn how terms like "choice" and "control over my body" mask the grisly horrors of abortion. Never schooled on what happens during an abortion, students will learn how first, second and third trimester abortions are performed. Classes will cover the growth and development of babies during their nine months in the womb including unique DNA at conception; a heartbeat at three weeks; moving fingers, toes and limbs; and functioning organs by 10 weeks. Ultrasound images will be used as visual aids. Attention will be given to Planned Parenthood including its actual vs. purported activities, profit model, government funding and massive contributions to politicians.

December: National Religion Month. Students will learn the basic beliefs of the major world religions as told by visiting priests, ministers, rabbis and imams. Students will also learn where and how religions around the world are under attack and by whom. This will include the suppression of religious expression and the marginalization of believers across the U.S. including in schools, the U.S. Congress, the military, the courts, government agencies, businesses and the public square. Students will also study how religious groups address poverty and will compare the cost-effectiveness of private charities vs. government programs in helping needy people.

Critics will correctly note that these monthly observations don't comport with the themes that dominate our calendar now. Others may call these 12 suggestions anachronistic, racist, sexist and hateful. Not to worry. For decades, our schools at every level have been seedbeds of identity politics and victimology. A year of less leftist indoctrination and more critical thinking won't shake the sacred pillars of the progressive agenda. Besides, building kids' ability to reason for themselves, while being more open-minded, fair and tolerant of other opinions, will only help them in the more pluralistic society of tomorrow.