I was summoned (a long time ago, but I am here nonetheless. I am really only here #RememberRickBarnes on the basketball board, but i'll check in here)!
@Mr. Deez the Right in general has been super lazy with distilling conservative values in their children. A very high number of parents of people currently 35 and younger let schools teach their kids their values and they checked out of parenting. I saw this happen a lot growing up. Most people my age do not share their parents' values and their parents are confused about how it happened. Why did this happen? I really do not know. Drug culture from the 60s? My parents taught me their values. Some other parents taught their children their values as well. Why did so many not? I really do not know. My best theory on the decline in America culture is the proliferation of drugs.
Yes, the Right has been lazy about passing on conservatism to their kids. I think it's a lot of factors. Yes, drug proliferation and trashy music were part of it. If you grew up not taking drugs and listening to Benny Goodman, that definitely suggests a different culture from someone who grows up smoking dope and listening to "Wet *** *****." However, I think the previous generation's personal failures and laziness are the biggest factor.
To pass on conservatism or traditional values to kids, you have to practice them yourself and not downplay their importance, because you won't have the credibility to teach them if you don't. You can't be a drug user. You can't be sexually screwed up. You want your kids to like positive cultural influences? Then you better appreciate them yourself. If you don't want your kid listening to Cardi B, then you better not be listening to 2Live Crew. Your kids aren't going to be any more traditional than you are.
If you want your kid to be a Christian, you have to be one and act like one yourself. You have to get your *** out of bed on Sunday morning and go to church even when you don't feel like it and then reinforce that at home - read the Bible, pray with them, teach them to care about and help others (especially those with less). How many conservative parents took their kids to church on Sunday but then let the crappy pop culture be the biggest influence 6 out of 7 days? Tons.
I think a lot of parents who believe in traditional values also want to be their kids' friends (which is easy) rather than leaders (which is hard). It's a pain in the *** and makes you look like a killjoy to discipline your kid or to tell him or her she can't listen to trashy music or watch trashy TV shows. It's a pain in the *** to have to go tell your daughter she can't have her boyfriend hanging out in her bedroom. You have to be willing to do this stuff even if invites conflict or makes you look "bad."
You also have to not give a crap what other stupid adults think of you. There were times when I had to whip Deez, Jr.'s *** when he was younger and misbehaved in restaurants. I didn't spank him in front of people, but I did have to haul him out of the restaurant to the car where his *** got whipped, and plenty of "adults" who could tell what was going to happen gave me dirty looks. **** 'em, and rather than looking away in shame, I gave them a "**** off" scowl in return. After doing that a couple of times, he stopped misbehaving.
Finally, I think a lot of parents who monitored their kids' entertainment in the '80s and '90s were too rigid about some things and too permissive about others. They'd put up every barrier in the world to make sure their kid never saw a boob or violence on TV, but then they'd let their kid veg out watching other shows in which kids are celebrated and laughed at for smack-talking and disrespecting their parents or other authority figures. I'm not gonna show Deez, Jr. gratuitous nudity, pornography, or violence, but I'd rather him see tasteful, incidental nudity or some righteous killing (neither of which have real life application to him) than to see a 7-year-old kid talking **** and looking good for it (which does have real life application to him).
Frankly, it's a lot easier to be passive about this stuff and dole this responsibility out to the schools and broader culture, and I think a lot of parents just decided to go the way of least resistance. Well, that may have made their lives easier in the moment, but we're paying a price for it now. It's costing us the culture that made us successful and decent in the first place, and they scratch their heads and wonder what the hell went wrong.