Social Emotional Learning and the Colorado Healthy Kids Survey

On September 26, 2022, Kim Monson welcomed Brad Beck to discuss civic engagement and citizen responsibility, then turned attention to the Colorado Healthy Kids Survey with State House candidate Stephanie Hancock and Cherry Creek Parents Advocacy Network’s Jen Gibbons, exploring parental rights concerns about surveys administered to children in public schools.

Citizen Engagement and the Responsibility Problem

Start listening at 01:15 – Hour 1

Brad Beck, co-founder of Liberty Toastmasters, opened the broadcast examining why concerned citizens struggle to hold local government accountable. Beck shared his experience at a broadband meeting in Erie, Colorado, where his simple question about emerging technology prompted officials to abruptly adjourn. The pattern repeats across local government: officials table discussions when citizens ask uncomfortable questions, wearing out those who take time from work and family to attend.

Beck argued that the erosion of civic engagement stems partly from citizens themselves. Drawing on Leonard E. Reed’s concept of “eduction” versus “education,” Beck distinguished between revealing truth through critical thinking and merely indoctrinating through prescribed answers. The discussion touched on Erie’s push for home rule after 148 years as a statutory town, raising questions about who benefits from such changes.

“We can’t take our eye off the ball anymore. We’ve got to be active and engaged as citizenry and do something that’s going to move for our cause, which is liberty, freedom, and to be left alone to our own happiness.”

Brad Beck, Liberty Toastmasters Co-Founder

Energy Costs and Government Overreach

Start listening at 27:00 – Hour 1

Kim Monson highlighted a Colorado Sun report revealing Xcel Energy customers face a 54% increase in December gas bills, from $115 to $177. The utility’s collaboration with state Democrats on energy policy has shifted costs onto consumers while officials defer decisions about coal plant closures until after elections. Beck noted the irony of Xcel sending letters shaming customers for energy usage while raising rates, suggesting the utility stop wasteful mailings to save money.

Colorado Healthy Kids Survey and Social Emotional Learning

Start listening at 60:00 – Hour 2

Stephanie Hancock, candidate for Colorado House District 41, exposed the troubling contents of the Colorado Healthy Kids Survey administered to students as young as middle school. The survey probes children about sexual activity, drug use, pronouns, and personal family matters with questions Hancock characterized as wholly inappropriate for schools to ask.

The broader Social Emotional Learning agenda embeds ideological content throughout curricula, bypassing parental awareness. Hancock connected current educational failures to the abandonment of classical learning: reading, writing, arithmetic, rhetoric, logic, music, and astronomy that once equipped even second-graders to compete.

“They should be learning to do reading and writing and math, not sexualizing our children. They should be able to make friends and have fun and learn things like how to read and think for themselves, not what to think, not how to think, but to be their own thought machine, to be able to think for themselves.”

Stephanie Hancock, Candidate for Colorado House District 41

Cherry Creek Parents Fight Back

Start listening at 87:30 – Hour 2

Jen Gibbons of the Cherry Creek Parents Advocacy Network detailed the uphill battle parents face seeking transparency from school administrators. Despite attending every board meeting, parents receive no responses to emails or speeches. A CORA request revealed hundreds of pages showing the district treats parent concerns differently based on their ideological alignment.

Gibbons urged parents to opt their children out of all surveys, not just the Colorado Healthy Kids Survey. Teachers now ask students their pronouns without parental consent, normalizing ideological concepts. Cherry Creek, once the district families moved into for quality education, now sees over 50% of third graders failing reading proficiency, a statistic administrators spin as acceptable because it exceeds state averages.

“If a parent were to complain about something, it depends on what it is: whether or not they get the attention that they deserve. They are very open to the other side. We did a CORA request and got hundreds of pages of emails.”

Jen Gibbons, Cherry Creek Parents Advocacy Network

Task Force Freedom Call to Action

Start listening at 104:11 – Hour 2

Caller Kane from Task Force Freedom reinforced the urgency of parental engagement, challenging parents to consider removing children from government schools entirely. While acknowledging not everyone can homeschool immediately, Kane argued the corruption in schools is deliberate, not misguided. Task Force Freedom helps parents navigate the opt-out process for intrusive surveys, requiring yearly vigilance before each school year begins.