Parents, YOU Are Your Child's Best Teacher

Hey everybody, it's Richard Ramos, host of the Parent Whisperer podcast. I hope you're all doing well, and let's get into this episode. My son recently shared with me an article that was on Substack, if you know what Substack is. And I wanted to— I want to share that with you. The author of this article put a question to AI, artificial intelligence, about destroying the next generation, your kids, our grandkids. And I thought that the answers from artificial intelligence were pretty interesting from a parent perspective. But before I share that with you, I was also talking to a really good friend of mine who kind of gave me some feedback, some things to think about on our last episode on parents, children, and UFOs. And he was saying he was left with questions about how should we talk to our kids about this and looking for some kind of guidance and direction because let's face it, this issue about aliens and UFOs, it's an issue that there's no real definitive answers. There's all kinds of different camps going back and forth. But my concern and the reason that I— a couple of reasons why I talked about that subject was the effect ultimately that I feel this issue in the near future is going to have not only on adults, but our children. If in fact our government or some other world leader comes out and makes a declaration, an official statement that UFOs are real, then that was my concern because then where does that go? And it it relates to this article that that I mentioned my son shared with me. It relates to that article, and I'll get to that. But you might say, Richard, my kids are not asking me about UFOs. I'm not. Interested in UFOs, and I don't even know what— how to talk about it. Nobody's asking me. They may not be asking you now, but I guarantee you, if things change, as I mentioned, an official statement is made, they're going to be asking you about it. That said, because we don't— we don't have an official statement, so I just wanted to give you some general thoughts and put this in context from what we teach in Parents on a Mission. So the first thing is our job is not to necessarily convince our kids about what to believe. Our job is to raise children who can think for themselves, who know how to ask the right questions, to think clearly, to be calm when everybody else is panicking, to be that non-anxious presence that hopefully you and I— you hear me talk about that a lot in Parents on a Mission— that hopefully you and I are demonstrating. And that we are teaching our children to make wise decisions, wise choices, given all the information, whatever subject it might be. And in, in particular, our life of faith. When information is incomplete, that's where our faith kicks in, because we don't have all the answers to everything that's going on in the world. Especially when it comes to UFO and aliens. So I'm saying to you, Mom and Dad, this issue about whether aliens are real or amongst us or not, it goes deeper than what we're normally concerned about— drugs, premarital sex, getting kids getting pregnant, gangs, violence, the normal things that as parents that we are normally concerned about, but this delves into a spiritual issue, and we don't often talk about spiritual issues when we're dealing with social issues that I just mentioned— sex, drugs, gangs, violence, dropping out of school— the different kind of daily things that some parents are dealing with and wanting to avoid. But there's a spiritual element in the world. I think you all probably know that. We don't always talk about it, But in this case, I did talk about it because this issue about UFOs and aliens—it's a spiritual issue. Ultimately, it is going to be a spiritual issue, and I believe that it's part of a deception—a plan to deceive people, deceive children away from the values that we have traditionally. Held. The things that we thought were true, all of a sudden it's gonna— the boat's gonna get rocked in a huge way. And then what? So if we are not strong in what we believe, what our values and what our faith is, then the other thing is kids are going to be swayed away from you unless we've anchored them in the things that we believe in our faith in God, because this is going to be a strong test of deception. So here are some reminders of what we teach in Parents on a Mission. Parents on a Mission— whether aliens exist or not. So let's just put that question on the table, because we don't have a definitive answer right now. We just have all this speculation and argument and a bunch of people saying a bunch of different things. So I'm doing my best to Study to listen, to bring to you the best information I can. That's what the last podcast was all about. But in general, the issue is: Do our children? Are we raising children to have the emotional maturity to live in a world where not every question has an immediate answer? That that is the strength that we want to give our kids. We don't know everything. We don't have an answer for all the things. And now with artificial intelligence and Just the world is changing with war, with oil, with the price of gas, the price of food, loss of jobs, artificial intelligence. There's a huge shift. I called it a reset, a new world order that's coming right to pass right in front of us. So in the midst of all of those things, we just need to raise kids who are emotionally mature. Solid in who they are, solid in their faith, solid in their values, solid in their belief of who God is, who we are, and how all of that relates to our families. We're not building our family to be strong because we have all the answers. We're building our family strong in trust of each other, trust in the Lord, trust in our communication. Trust in our honesty with one another. Trust in our humility and in our healthy relationships. And if our children are learning those kinds of things, they're going to be prepared. And that's really the key for whatever truth or lie is revealed. So also, this gives us an opportunity that we teach in Parents on a Mission as far as emotional maturity to demonstrate the humility that. Sometimes we just don't know. That's a that's an okay answer. You know what, son? I don't know. I'm not sure. I have some. I don't have all the facts. I have opinions. Here's what I think, or here's what he said, or she said, or here's what they said. But I don't know. I'm not sure that that it's okay for us to demonstrate that kind of humility, emotional maturity, and let our kids know we're not always going to. Know all the things that are coming right before us all the time. And it's okay to say to kids, I'm not sure, I don't know. And another thing, in one of the sessions that we teach in Parents on a Mission, I believe it's in session 5, and I emphasize how important it is to teach kids, as I already mentioned, to think for themselves. And this topic It provides a perfect opportunity to teach our children that not everything online is true. Not everything on television is true. Not everything the government says is true. And here's another thing. Think about this. Not every theory is a conspiracy. Why? Because the theory may be true, as we are finding out. There's so many of these supposed conspiracy theories that were made fun of and put down between the Epstein files and these UFO files that are coming out. Oh, it's true. So not every theory is a conspiracy, and Not every conspiracy is a theory because it wasn't a theory. It was in fact a conspiracy that was going on, and we found out about that. So that kind of teaching of your children to understand, to think for themselves, to not believe everything we read in the newspaper, in magazines, even in books, online, and to how to learn how to research. Which I don't want to necessarily get into all of that right now. The point is about how do you do research so that you can find the documentation to support and back up whatever it is you're reading. So that's a whole topic on, on doing in-depth study and research on whatever topic it is you're studying. But I'm, I'm just mainly saying this topic is, is a good way to say, hey, We don't know if that's true, what the president is saying, what the military people are saying, what the politicians are saying, what the teachers are saying. In other words, what all these people in authority are saying, we don't know if for sure it's true, or what you read in the, in a newspaper or on magazine, because we've, over the years, all these things have come out that so much of it is not true. We've been misled, we've been lied to, we've been deceived. All of it, and so this is another one of those subjects. And that to me, in my opinion, you're raising a healthy, smart, wise, calm, well thought out thinking individual. You're raising a solid adult, a solid citizen who one day will be an employer, one day will be an employee. One day will be a mom, a dad, etc., etc. That is really the crux of what parents on a mission is all about. We're living this daily life; things are happening, yet our kids are growing older day by day, and they're living in a generation that we have never dealt with before. We are hearing and seeing and experiencing things that we have never. Parents have never had to deal with before, and but there are principles that we're teaching in Parents on a Mission. It's all right here in my book, which I want to encourage you to get and read because everything is in here. I don't go over everything in all these podcasts. So just being able to say to our children that they should be asking the question, how do we know that's true? That's going to protect them from manipulation. And manipulation is a powerful tool used by the media, used by movies and television and music. And we want to teach our children, step back, ask the question. You don't have to buy in right away, jump on the bandwagon right away to everything that everybody else is doing. And that single question, how do we know it's true? Can protect our kids from manipulation. And speaking of manipulation, that leads me to the article that I want to share with you. Now, this author, he asked Chat— let me just read it to you. I asked ChatGPT how it would destroy America's youth. Its answers were unsettling and all. Too familiar. And so he entitled the article The Devil's Plan to Ruin the Next Generation, or subtitle ChatGPT's 7-Step Plan to Ruin the Next Generation. So these are answers directly from the questions. First, ChatGPT— so when I say he or it or AI says, that's what I'm talking about. If I were to think this through as a thought experiment, imagining, quote, the devil in a metaphorical sense, the most effective way to destroy the next generation without them realizing it would be through slow, invisible corrosions of the human spirit. There's the word spirit, rather than obvious attacks. So here's question number one, or plan number one: erode attention and presence. If young people can't focus deeply, they can't learn, create, or love well. The subtle trap is to addict them to constant stimulation. Does that sound familiar? Endless scrolling, notifications, microbursts of dopamine. What that means is those kinds of things set off That good feeling in your mind. That's what dopamine is. And the— and he's saying you gotta be constantly stimulating that through endless scrolling and notifications, et cetera. They'll feel busy, connected, even informed, while in reality their capacity for sustained thought and presence erodes. That is a huge insight right there. Their capacity for sustained thought and presence erodes. They won't know what they've lost. Number 2, confuse identity and purpose. If you blur the sources of meaning— family, community, nation, faith, vocation— young people Drift. They'll be encouraged to see identity as endlessly fluid and performative, constantly managing for external approval, like likes, followers, likes on Facebook, likes and followers, instead of rooted in enduring values or commitments. 3rd, Flood them with information, starve them from wisdom. Make everything available instantly, but strip away guidance about how to weigh, sort, and interpret. Do you see how this relates to what I was saying earlier about educating our kids to think about this issue, to be wise? To think for themselves, to slow down, to step back, because flood them with information—that's what's happening. Starve them from wisdom. Let me read it again: Make everything available instantly, but strip away guidance about how to weigh, sort, and interpret. See, mom and dad—that's what you and I need to be teaching them. Then it goes on. Give them infinite answers without teaching how to ask good questions. There it is. In that haze, truth and falsehood feel equally slippery, so cynicism becomes natural. A generation that doubts everything believes Nothing. We can't allow that, Mom and Dad. It's up to us. Number four: replace real relationships with simulacra. I'm not sure I'm saying that right. S-I-M-U-L-A-C-R-A. Simulacra. I guess that means simulation. Not sure, but I'll read what it says. Encourage digital substitutes. For friendship, love, and intimacy. I recently read an article that said that young people—the rise is going up on their not only dependence upon but preference for AI to be their companion, to be in relationship with the. artificial intelligence rather than a real person. So encourage digital substitutes for friendship, love, and intimacy. People will accumulate connections while feeling lonelier than ever. Superficial bonds are easier to monetize and manipulate than the deep ties of family, friendship, and community. The tragedy is that they may not realize what real connection feels like. Are you listening, mom and dad? This is what I'm talking about. Number five, normalize hedonism, pathologize discipline. What does he mean by that? Convince them that comfort, consumption, and self-expression. Are the highest goods, while restraint, sacrifice, and long-term commitment are oppressive. Think about that. That's what's happening. That's exactly what's happening. That way, they'll they'll celebrate indulgence while mocking tradition and discipline. The very things that build strength and freedom across generations. 6, undermine trust across generations. Sow suspicion between parents and children, teachers and students, elders and youth. If every authority figure is portrayed as untrustworthy or obsolete, the next generation grows rootless, cut off from inherited wisdom, and forced to navigate the world with only the guidance of peers and algorithms. Okay, now I need to talk about this because I just got through telling you earlier in the podcast how we need to teach our children not to believe everything they hear. Especially from authority figures, the news, the media, movies, music, all of those things. And so both things can be true. On the one hand, we know there's just been too much deception, too much lying, too many authority figures being busted for this and for that. And again, all the information that's coming out in, in, in different ways. So that's legitimate that we have to teach our kids to be asking that question. How do we know that's true? But at the same time, let me see. I think I'm gonna— oh, that was an interruption. Sorry about that. At the same time, sowing suspicion between parents and children. Teachers and students, elders and youth. Because the fact is, a lot of us parents, we're good parents. And so I'm going to protect my children. I'm going to build that relationship, as I already said, of trust, of confidence, of healthiness, of wisdom, of connection, of attachment, so that I'm not going to let My children be influenced and be suspicious of me, and most of that's going to happen because I have character, because I'm not perfect, but I am honest. And so my kids know that about me, so we have a good connection. And then teachers and students there again. There's a lot of good teachers out there, and there's a lot of good kids out there that are their friends. And then our elders are could be grandparents, could be uncles and aunts. And so. This has to be, again, it's a both-and thing. Yes, there are authority figures and people and adults and teachers and people like that are not to be trusted. But then again, there's all many of us who are to be trusted, our brothers and our sisters teaching our kids that to trust their brother and trust their sister and build that community in your home. And again, that's why I want to encourage you. It's all in here. Get, take, invest, invest in yourself. If you like to read, invest in yourself. So much of what I'm mentioning here, it's in here in detail and how to deal with it. Okay, so the last one. Chat closes— ChatGPT closes with the plan that I just read to you with this epilogue. In short, if I were the devil, I'd destroy the next generation not by terror or violence, but by distraction, disconnection, and slow erosion of meaning. They wouldn't even notice because it would feel like freedom and entertainment. So what do you say about that, Mom and Dad? This is what we're dealing with. This is my message to you. This is why I wrote this book. This is why I do this podcast. This is why my website has resources, free resources, It has an online course. If you don't like to read, you can go my to my website and you could take the online course. Why? Because this is what we're dealing with. This is right now. This is real. This is not theory. This is not maybe. This is what's happening. And so I'm here to just encourage you, to inspire you, and to equip you. Especially those of you who still have little kids in your home, to think about not only what's going on today, but what's coming, what the future holds in this fast-changing society that we are living in today. So with that, you've been listening to the Parent Whisperer podcast. I'm Richard Ramos. Please help me out by subscribing to the podcast, liking the video, liking this episode, and sharing it. And what also really helps me is to— if you could leave a review or ask questions and we can have a conversation. I would really love to hear your feedback on the things that I'm teaching. And if there are some specific things, other things that I'm not— haven't addressed that you would like me to talk about, then I would love you to put that in your review or email or questions. You can go to my website, richardrramos.com, and again find the resources that I mentioned there. I want to thank all of you who are subscribing to this podcast. I really appreciate it. And remember that Parents on a Mission Is not for bad parents. Parents on a Mission is for good parents like you who just want to get better. Thanks for listening, and I will see you next time.