Let Them Grow Up in This World
Stop fearing the world your kids will inherit, raise them strong enough to change it.
Every time tragedy hits the headlines, whether it’s the death of Iryna, Charlie, or countless others, I hear parents sigh and mutter the same line:
“I don’t want my kids to grow up in this world.”
I get it…
The weight of senseless death, the corruption, the madness can get heavy, but let me tell you something that might shift your mindset a little: The world has always been this way.
There have always been wars, plagues, executions, assassinations, genocide, children buried by parents, husbands buried by wives, and kingdoms falling in rivers of blood.
This is not new.
What’s new is how we respond as men, women, and parents in this modern generation, where connection and information are no longer confined by physical proximity and travel.
The World Has Always Been Brutal
Pretending this is the “worst time in history” is short-sighted cowardice.
It’s not true.
Our ancestors raised children through famine, pestilence, and warlords on horseback; they’d have six kids, and four would die; they buried half their babies before the age of five and still dared to have more.
Why?
Because they understood something many parents today have forgotten, and that’s the fact that bringing children into this world isn’t a gamble against evil winning, it’s a declaration that good is worth fighting for.
If you believe evil will prevail, then sure:
Hide.
Don’t raise kids.
Don’t create a family.
Don’t build a legacy…
If you believe that good can must win, then raising strong sons and daughters isn’t just parenting, it’s your declaration of war on the side of what is true and good.
Children Are Not a Liability
Here’s the truth that masculine men know, and the weakest of men don’t want to admit: Saying you don’t want your children to grow up in this world is not protection, it’s surrender; it’s waving the white flag before the battle even begins.
I understand why mothers do it, but even then, the best mothers I know are glad they’re raising future Kings and Queens who will battle and win their future lives, keeping it from being overtaken by “authority” and evil.
Your children are not liabilities to be shielded from life.
They are your legacy, like arrows you launch into a world that needs them, and they are the ones who will stand when the time comes when you fall.
So stop whining that the world is too dark; it’s always been hard, and when you udnerstand that, life is easy.
The role of a parent is not to eliminate hardship, but to raise men and women capable of facing it head-on.
The Father’s Responsibility
As a father, I feel this calling to raise my children to the best of my ability deep in my bones.
Every night, I look at my kids and know I am raising them not for ease but endurance, comfort, and courage.
When Charlie was murdered for speaking the truth, when Iryna’s light was extinguished, I didn’t think, “How can I shield my kids from this world?” I thought, “How do I raise them to be ready?”
Because the answer to dark violence is not retreat, it’s sending light straight into it.
Our job as fathers and mothers is to forge kids who are trustworthy, honest, faithful, and unbreakable. Kids who can’t be bought off with drugs or propaganda.
Our job is to raise children who know that good doesn’t just magically win, it wins because they fought for it.
Stop Wishing & Start Building.
Parents,
Your fear is teaching your children that when you say, “I don’t want my kids to grow up in this world,” they hear, “I don’t believe you can handle it.”
That is poison.
Say, “This world needs you.”
Say, “You’re going to make it stronger.”
Say, “I believe in who you’re becoming.”
And then raise them accordingly.
Teach them, model faith, embody integrity, and train resilience.
The world doesn’t need another generation of weaklings wishing things were easier; it requires strong men and women who know damn well how hard it is and still choose to stand.
Never forget, your children will follow your example, not your advice.
Death and tragedy will always be with us.
Evil will always rear its head.
That’s reality, but good can still win; raising children is the loudest, boldest way to prove that.
So stop saying you don’t want your kids to grow up in this world; that’s not love for them, it’s fear and subconscious acknowledgment that you aren’t strong enough for this world.
Instead, send them out, ready to fight, love, and lead.
That is how we win.
- Zac Small
Most men don't want to grow up in this world!