A Generation Lost…That Can Still Be Found
A Good Friday story of redemption
Kendall Qualls
Six years ago, I spoke at a college campus in Minnesota during one of the most turbulent moments in recent American history. The country was reeling from the death of George Floyd and the subsequent riots across the country. Emotions were high. Division was everywhere. My talk addressed the Black Lives Matter organization, and its explicit call (since rescinded) to “disrupt the…nuclear family structure.” I argued that this sort of radicalism was ultimately bad for black people and indeed for the country as a whole.
After my remarks, a young woman approached me—not with curiosity, but with anger and resentment. She challenged everything I said. She was dismissive, confrontational, and openly disrespectful. At the time, it wasn’t unusual. I had seen it before—and I’ve seen it many times since.
But recently, I heard from her again.
This time, the tone was entirely different. It turned out her name was Avery and she was writing to apologize. She admitted that at the time, she was “filled with anger,” not walking with God, and blinded by what she now recognized as a distorted worldview. Avery acknowledged that she had not understood the message I was trying to share—and that she had responded out of ignorance. Today, she is married, a mother, and living a life centered on faith, family, and purpose.
A Generation Shaped by Indoctrination
What I encountered in that young woman wasn’t just disagreement. It was the product of a system. Across our public education system—from K–12 classrooms to college campuses—too many young people are being taught what to think, not how to think.
They are immersed in a worldview that emphasizes grievance over gratitude, division over unity, and victimhood over personal responsibility. Respect for elders, appreciation for tradition, and adherence to basic social norms are increasingly dismissed as relics of the past.
The result is a generation that is often misinformed, emotionally reactive, and hostile toward ideas that challenge what they’ve been taught. That’s not education. That’s indoctrination.
Closed Minds, Not Critical Thinkers
Even more troubling is what comes next.
When ideology is taught as truth—and competing ideas are discouraged, you don’t produce independent thinkers. You produce rigid ones. Young people become resistant to truth itself.
Avery, the young woman who once confronted me, now says it plainly: she was blinded—unable to see beyond the narrow framework she had been given.
We see this play out across the country every day. Speakers are shouted down. Debate is replaced with outrage. Facts are dismissed if they conflict with the narrative. An education system that cannot tolerate dissent is not preparing students for the real world—it is isolating them from it.
This Strategy Is Not New
The idea of shaping society through the minds of children has long been understood. As Vladimir Lenin famously said, “Give me your four-year-olds, and in a generation I will build a socialist state.” Control what children are taught, and you shape the future. That’s exactly why what happens in our classrooms matters so much.
What Actually Changed Avery
And yet, despite everything she had been taught, this young woman’s life changed—completely.
Not because of a new policy.
Not because of a different professor.
Not because of a political movement.
She gave her life to Jesus Christ. That is when everything shifted.
Her anger gave way to humility.
Her confusion gave way to clarity.
Her resentment gave way to purpose. Today, she and her husband are raising a child and working to help others avoid the same mistakes they made. That kind of transformation cannot be manufactured by any institution. It comes from a changed heart.
We Cannot Ignore This Any Longer
If we continue down the current path, we will raise generations increasingly disconnected from truth, from one another, and from the values that sustain a healthy society. We cannot afford to look the other way. Parents must take a more active role in what their children are being taught. Communities must demand accountability from schools. And leaders must have the courage to speak honestly about what is happening.
Because this is not just about politics.
It’s about the future of our country.
Seeds of Truth Still Grow
Avery ended her letter to me with a powerful reminder: The seeds you plant may not grow immediately—but in time, they can. Six years ago, she rejected everything I said.
Today, she is living it.
That should give us hope—but it should also serve as a warning. If we don’t reclaim the truth, someone else will shape the next generation in its place. And the consequences will be far greater than one angry conversation on a college campus.
