Saturday Night at the Movies: Fight For Your Kids

Even When the Enemy is... School

As if I didn’t already feel like a celebrity this week, Libs of Tik Tok is now shining the light of the entire internet on our very own little public school board here in Texas.

What do you do when your child’s school is the enemy? If it’s America in the 21st century, the answer involves some combination of speaking out at school board meetings, running for school board yourself, being labeled a domestic terrorist for doing so by your own government, and finally choosing to homeschool or find a non-woke private school. What if it’s England before WWI, though, and there is no DOJ to raid your home at dawn? Well, that’s the story of our fantastic movie this week!

The Winslow Boy is the riveting true story of a family’s fight to clear their child’s name when he’s accused of theft by his boarding school. What starts as a seemingly minor matter of school discipline culminates in a national scandal played out on the floor of parliament.

Robert Donat, of Goodbye, Mr Chips, steals the show as the famed barrister who becomes the boy’s advocate. Yet even without his charming performance, there is so much in the story to captivate you, it truly is as relevant today as it was when it first came out.

Rather than sing more of its praises, allow me to share my own Winslow Boy story. When I was in fifth or sixth grade, my teacher accused me of cheating. She didn’t believe I was capable of writing the essays I was turning in. She went to the principal and made a stink, accusing my parents of writing the essays in my name (this was in the days before AI, or I’m sure she would’ve fingered ChatGTP). Thankfully, my parents stood up for me, and I remember my dad suggesting an easy way to resolve the dispute. I was put in an empty classroom, given an hour or so, and the teacher picked a topic for me to write about. I don’t remember the details, but suffice to say the resultant work of literary genius was enough to quell any doubts.

You might think it a matter of course that parents would stand up for their children, but children don’t see it like that. They too often see themselves as afterthoughts in a world controlled by and made for grown ups - and after Covid lockdown and masking of toddlers, to say nothing of drugging children to make teachers’ lives easier, can you blame them? It therefore means a great deal to kids when their parents do fight on their side against unfair rules/accusations made by other grown ups. I know I will never forget my dad’s indignation at the accusation and how hard he worked to restrain his righteous anger at the teacher. It wasn’t a national scandal, but it felt that way to me at the time.

If the past few years of Covid and trans madness have taught us anything, it is that many parents are unwilling to do what it takes to fight for their children. If you’re reading this, chances are very high you are not one of those parents. As you know, and as The Winslow Boy touchingly shows, fighting on your child’s behalf against society’s powerful institutions will cost us a great deal - financially, socially, emotionally. But, as a child who was fought for, and as an adult who too often sees the terrible harm in the lives of children whose parents did not fight hard enough for them, I can assure you: the fight is worth the cost. Your children will never forget it. Let this movie remind you why.

I think you may also find that fighting against the corrupt world for the sake of truth and modeling that kind of sacrificial love for your children will help them better understand the love shown them by their Heavenly Father. If you’ll indulge me in some homegrown Texas music, George Strait had a thing or two to say about that:

In closing, allow me to make the very uncharacteristic claim that if you’re one of those people who simply do not like the old black and white movies, the modern remake is actually very well done! This David Mamet chap knows what he’s doing, I think he has a future.

Whether you go with the 48 or 99 version, I do hope you will enjoy the movie - and don’t let any grown up bullies destroy your child’s life without a fight!