Latest / Cultural Wars | America Out Loud News / Princeton changes its honor code, revealing a severe lack of education

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Princeton changes its honor code, revealing a severe lack of education · Cultural Wars | America Out Loud News

• 0:22
  Well, while Princeton has had to change its
• 0:26
  honor code as of late, thanks to AI,
• 0:30
  YouTube, Snap, and TikTok have settled with a
• 0:34
  Kentucky school district amid media addiction claims.
• 0:45
  And it's uh it's not a scorched earth
• 0:47
  policy.
• 0:49
  Good afternoon, my friends.
• 0:50
  Uh you you're listening to the dean's list
• 0:52
  here on America Out Loud Talk Radio.
• 0:55
  We're gonna we're gonna pay a visit to
• 0:56
  to Princeton.
• 0:58
  We're gonna pay a visit to Kentucky, and
• 1:00
  we're gonna we're gonna check in and see
• 1:02
  how how AI's doing.
• 1:05
  Who's winning here?
• 1:06
  Is it is it good old fashioned traditional
• 1:09
  education or is it AI?
• 1:12
  Uh first stop, my friends.
• 1:15
  First stop is first stop it.
• 1:20
  Where should we go first?
• 1:21
  Should we go to Kentucky or or or
• 1:22
  New Jersey?
• 1:24
  All right, Princeton it is.
• 1:26
  Well, before we get there, I want to
• 1:27
  remind you.
• 1:28
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• 2:01
  All right.
• 2:03
  Uh so let's let's go to Princeton first.
• 2:05
  Let's go to New Jersey.
• 2:08
  Uh, the home of Princeton.
• 2:10
  The Ivy League institutions honor code has been
• 2:14
  amended in the past 133 years.
• 2:18
  Did you know this?
• 2:20
  That they've amended the honor code in order
• 2:23
  to keep up with technology and societal changes.
• 2:27
  See, see, this is what they want for
• 2:29
  the constitution, by the way.
• 2:30
  They would love to change the constitution, amend
• 2:33
  it to keep up with technology and or
• 2:36
  societal changes.
• 2:39
  They would love it if the if the
• 2:42
  constitution would evolve, much like the honor code
• 2:44
  over here at Princeton.
• 2:48
  The more recent change to the Princeton Honor
• 2:52
  Code was prompted by a student survey, a
• 2:56
  2025 student survey of graduating seniors revealed revealed
• 3:00
  something that that Princeton didn't see coming.
• 3:04
  Something rather rather shocking to our friends over
• 3:07
  at Princeton.
• 3:12
  This uh survey revealed that 30% of graduating
• 3:17
  seniors admitted to cheating on their assignments.
• 3:22
  Yes, you you heard that correct.
• 3:24
  30% admitted to cheating.
• 3:29
  And this this news has prompted some changes,
• 3:32
  some changes over there at Princeton, because you
• 3:36
  can no longer trust the student body.
• 3:40
  So I don't know if you are aware
• 3:43
  of this, but uh since 1893, uh students
• 3:46
  at Princeton have taken exams in a relaxed
• 3:50
  environment.
• 3:53
  They they haven't had a professor lurking about
• 3:56
  the room to ensure that there's no talking
• 3:59
  or no wandering eyes.
• 4:02
  They have been uh taking their exams on
• 4:05
  the honor system.
• 4:08
  Yeah, since since 18.
• 4:10
  Let me make sure I got this date
• 4:11
  right.
• 4:13
  Uh, according to our friend Aaron Gifford over
• 4:15
  at the Epoch Times, since 1893, students have
• 4:18
  been taking exams at Princeton on the honor
• 4:21
  system.
• 4:24
  No lurking professors, no um uh, you know,
• 4:27
  no wandering eyes, no uh no talking, no,
• 4:31
  they've just they they've been in a room
• 4:34
  very relaxed.
• 4:39
  The honor system uh that preserved the arrangement,
• 4:42
  however, unfortunately is no more.
• 4:46
  The honor system is gone.
• 4:47
  It's kaput over at Princeton.
• 4:50
  They're done with it.
• 4:52
  Uh on July 1st, according to a memo
• 4:56
  by the dean of faculty, Gene Jarrett, July
• 4:59
  1st, Princeton University will return to Proctored in-class
• 5:03
  assessments.
• 5:07
  A seemingly ancient practice has been recalled to
• 5:11
  counterchanging norms and increasing student reliance on AI,
• 5:15
  according to the campus document.
• 5:20
  Seemingly ancient practice.
• 5:22
  This has been going on for a long
• 5:23
  time.
• 5:24
  The honor system over here at Princeton, where
• 5:27
  kids could just relax and take their exams
• 5:30
  without any pressure.
• 5:34
  Well, apparently 30% of them, and it's probably
• 5:37
  more 30% admitted to cheating.
• 5:42
  But don't you think there is a few
• 5:44
  more that that did cheat and just didn't
• 5:46
  admit to it.
• 5:49
  I mean, can we agree on that?
• 5:51
  I think we can.
• 5:52
  I mean, I think we have to come
• 5:53
  to that conclusion.
• 5:55
  Uh a May 4th memo from Dean of
• 5:58
  Faculty Gene Jarrett outlined the changes according to
• 6:01
  the newspaper.
• 6:05
  And the changes were approved this week.
• 6:07
  Under the 1893 policy, students would sign before
• 6:11
  each examination a statement affirming that they would
• 6:15
  not collaborate with other students, and that they
• 6:19
  would report any peers who were seen looking
• 6:23
  at someone else's answers or collaborating with others.
• 6:27
  This, my friends, is the honor system.
• 6:29
  This is this is what the honor system
• 6:30
  is.
• 6:32
  You you take something, say an exam, and
• 6:35
  uh you and you you sign it, you
• 6:38
  say, look, we're I I've I'm I'm giving
• 6:41
  you my word.
• 6:44
  I'm signing my name to this document.
• 6:47
  And uh basically stating I I will not
• 6:50
  cheat.
• 6:52
  And if I notice someone else cheating, if
• 6:54
  I see a wandering eyes, I will report
• 6:56
  it.
• 6:57
  I'll be the snitch.
• 6:59
  It's uh it's an honor code.
• 7:00
  It's an honor code.
• 7:03
  Uh and and over the past few years,
• 7:03
  And over the past few years, according to
• 7:05
  according to Jarrett, both students and faculty have
• 7:06
  Jarrett, both students and faculty have requested a
• 7:08
  requested a change to the system.
• 7:08
  change to the system.
• 7:10
  Given, quote, here's the quote, given their perception
• 7:10
  Given, quote, here's the quote, given their perception
• 7:13
  that cheating on in class exams has become
• 7:14
  that cheating on in-class exams has become widespread.
• 7:16
  widespread.
• 7:19
  So I mean, kids can sign their name
• 7:19
  So uh, I mean, kids can can sign
• 7:21
  to it.
• 7:21
  their name to it, and they can say,
• 7:23
  And they can say, look, I've signed this,
• 7:23
  look, I've signed this, and now I'm gonna
• 7:24
  and now I'm gonna just do whatever I
• 7:25
  I'm just gonna do whatever I want.
• 7:25
  want.
• 7:27
  I'm just gonna I'm gonna move on here.
• 7:27
  I'm just gonna, I'm gonna move on here.
• 7:30
  I'm just gonna, this is this is great.
• 7:32
  This is fantastic.
• 7:33
  I can't believe Prince says this stupid to
• 7:34
  just give me this document that I can
• 7:35
  sign, then I'm gonna just do whatever I
• 7:37
  want.
• 7:38
  I'm gonna cheat.
• 7:40
  I mean, that's the that's the prevailing attitude
• 7:42
  here.
• 7:44
  That's the underlying theme.
• 7:46
  Uh AI use, such as chat GPT is
• 7:48
  another big driver for the change, according to
• 7:50
  Jarrett.
• 7:53
  Uh the memo says that the ease of
• 7:56
  access of these tools on a small personal
• 7:59
  device has also changed the external appearance of
• 8:02
  misconduct during an examination, which is much harder
• 8:05
  for other students to observe and hence to
• 8:08
  report.
• 8:13
  Uh it seems to me that they're putting
• 8:16
  a lot of pressure on honest kids to
• 8:19
  report the dishonest.
• 8:23
  And maybe put put a lot of pressure
• 8:25
  on isn't the right word.
• 8:26
  Maybe they're they're relying too much on honest
• 8:29
  kids to report dishonest.
• 8:33
  And instead, I mean, maybe the focus should
• 8:36
  be on weeding out the dishonesty.
• 8:41
  I don't know, maybe maybe the focus should
• 8:44
  should be on more emphasis on the honor
• 8:48
  code and and less emphasis on relying on
• 8:52
  particular students to snitch on those who are
• 8:56
  breaking the honor code.
• 9:00
  Jarrett added that students are less likely to
• 9:03
  report pure cheating for fear that they will
• 9:06
  be shamed or doxxed on social media.
• 9:10
  This has made it difficult for the honor
• 9:13
  committee in the office of the dean of
• 9:16
  undergraduate students, Jarrett said, to follow up on
• 9:19
  concerns, even when there is significant buzz or
• 9:22
  outrage about supposedly agregious violations.
• 9:27
  Jarrett's updated proposal added a sentence to the
• 9:31
  official conduct of undergraduate course study policy.
• 9:35
  That sentence says in-class exams shall be supervised
• 9:38
  by instructional staff.
• 9:42
  It also said students are still required to
• 9:45
  sign a pledge with every exam that they
• 9:48
  have not violated the university honor code.
• 9:51
  Every single exam.
• 9:54
  We have to sign this pledge.
• 9:55
  I've not violated it.
• 9:56
  Well, what if you have?
• 9:57
  What if you have violated it?
• 9:58
  Do you not sign the pledge?
• 10:00
  Do you turn yourself in?
• 10:02
  Uh I'm sure there are plenty of students
• 10:05
  here that are signing this pledge saying and
• 10:07
  attesting they have not violated the honor code.
• 10:11
  And presumably they have and are.
• 10:14
  The Daily Princetonian reported that a faculty committee
• 10:17
  approved that change on May 11th.
• 10:21
  It's not yet updated on the Princeton University
• 10:23
  website.
• 10:25
  Proctors who witness honor code violations will be
• 10:29
  expected to document their observations, submit a report
• 10:33
  to the student-led honor committee, and testify in
• 10:37
  disciplinary hearings, according to the newspaper report.
• 10:43
  So an age-old practice over at Princeton since
• 10:47
  1893, and the practice is going away.
• 10:51
  And we could blame AI all day long,
• 10:53
  really.
• 10:55
  And I think that would be the easy
• 10:57
  out is to blame AI.
• 11:02
  I think the real blame has to, it
• 11:06
  has to fall on the students and their
• 11:09
  seemingly inability, their seeming inability to stay true
• 11:13
  to their word.
• 11:16
  If they have signed something and they have
• 11:19
  pledged that they will not cheat, then they
• 11:23
  sh they should honor that.
• 11:26
  I mean, it's it's called the honor system
• 11:28
  for a reason.
• 11:30
  But honor is is out.
• 11:34
  Honor's out.
• 11:35
  Honor is not in vogue, honor is not
• 11:36
  in fashion.
• 11:38
  Honor isn't, I mean, our word doesn't mean
• 11:41
  much anymore.
• 11:44
  It doesn't mean much when you have 30%
• 11:46
  of the graduating seniors, and probably more, 30%
• 11:49
  are the are the ones who who admitted
• 11:51
  to it.
• 11:54
  It's probably more.
• 12:07
  I cheated my way through college.
• 12:10
  I I cheated my way through Princeton.
• 12:13
  And they're they're proud of it.
• 12:16
  Are they?
• 12:18
  Um yeah, I don't I don't think the
• 12:20
  issue here, I don't think the the I
• 12:22
  don't think we can blame AI.
• 12:26
  I think the the blame falls squarely on
• 12:29
  the shoulders of the students.
• 12:31
  I remember uh a while back, Victor Davis
• 12:34
  Hanson writing this piece in uh uh Hillsdale's
• 12:38
  publication in Primus.
• 12:41
  Uh Hansen is a guest lecturer there of
• 12:44
  a visiting professor, as it were.
• 12:48
  And he said one of the things in
• 12:50
  his piece, he's talking about the three things
• 12:52
  that that struck him about Hillsdale.
• 12:54
  One of them is uh the fact that
• 12:57
  he's he's on a bike and he's riding
• 12:59
  his bike around camp campus, and he he
• 13:01
  leaves it parked in in some building, and
• 13:03
  then he goes in and he's I don't
• 13:05
  know, he's he gets he gets caught up
• 13:08
  anyway.
• 13:10
  He gets back to where he's staying and
• 13:11
  he forgets about his bike.
• 13:13
  He didn't chain it up, he didn't, and
• 13:15
  he's panicked.
• 13:16
  He he goes there the very next day
• 13:18
  thinking my bike's gonna be gone.
• 13:19
  I didn't I didn't chain it up.
• 13:21
  I you know, it's just out there exposed.
• 13:24
  And the next day he gets there, and
• 13:26
  lo and behold, his bike is still there.
• 13:29
  Nobody took it.
• 13:32
  And it's and and he he he at
• 13:33
  first he he's he's kind of shocked by
• 13:35
  this.
• 13:38
  And then he in his his piece he
• 13:40
  goes back to the honor code.
• 13:42
  The fact that that the Hillsdale student signed
• 13:45
  this honor code in honor is something that's
• 13:49
  held to such a high esteem there that
• 13:52
  they take it seriously.
• 13:56
  It's it's ingrained in their culture.
• 13:59
  Matter of fact, and I've I've witnessed this
• 14:00
  Matter of fact, and I've I've witnessed this
• 14:01
  firsthand.
• 14:01
  firsthand.
• 14:02
  You can you can go into, I guess
• 14:02
  You can you can go into, I guess
• 14:04
  what would be their student union, their mess
• 14:04
  what would be their student union, their mess
• 14:06
  hall, as it were.
• 14:06
  hall, as it were.
• 14:09
  And as you as you go down the
• 14:09
  And as you as you go down the
• 14:12
  stairs into the cafeteria, there is um there
• 14:12
  stairs into the cafeteria, there is um there
• 14:15
  are backpacks everywhere.
• 14:15
  are backpacks everywhere.
• 14:18
  It's just a sea of of backpacks.
• 14:18
  It's just a sea of backpacks.
• 14:22
  Matter of fact, you have to step over
• 14:22
  Matter of fact, you have to step over
• 14:23
  them, you have to step through them, you
• 14:23
  them, you have to step through them, you
• 14:24
  have to step around them.
• 14:25
  have to step around them, and kids just
• 14:26
  And kids just leave their backpacks there.
• 14:27
  leave their backpacks there.
• 14:29
  They leave.
• 14:29
  They leave their their equipment, their technology.
• 14:32
  It's just all out there.
• 14:35
  But because of the honor system, they feel
• 14:37
  confident that when they leave their lunch, they
• 14:40
  can come back and grab their backpack, and
• 14:43
  they can be on their way.
• 14:46
  And indeed, that's the way it is.
• 14:48
  They they leave their laptop out, and it's
• 14:50
  still going to be there on the table
• 14:53
  where they left it.
• 14:55
  Untouched, unfettered, unwhatever.
• 15:00
  Fill in the blank.
• 15:03
  And it's it's pe it's not because they
• 15:05
  don't they don't have access to AI.
• 15:07
  It's it's because the honor code is not
• 15:09
  lip service.
• 15:12
  The honor code is it's ingrained in the
• 15:15
  culture.
• 15:17
  It's entrenched in the culture.
• 15:19
  It is the fabric it's in the fabric
• 15:22
  of of everyday life over there.
• 15:26
  The Greeks have a word for this.
• 15:28
  It's it's padaya.
• 15:30
  And they believe that it's the culture that
• 15:35
  the padaya that actually raises the students.
• 15:40
  It's it's the culture where they learn.
• 15:42
  It's the culture wherein they're educated.
• 15:46
  And it's it's this type of culture that
• 15:49
  uh that raises young people.
• 15:52
  And the Greeks believe that morality should be
• 15:55
  the centerpiece of that culture.
• 15:57
  That if morality is the centerpiece of the
• 16:00
  culture, then you are raising a particular type
• 16:03
  of person, a different type of person, completely
• 16:06
  different.
• 16:09
  So you you have Hillsdale and you have
• 16:11
  Princeton.
• 16:12
  Now, look, I'm not saying you know, Hillsdale's
• 16:14
  this perfect utopia, and everyone that goes there
• 16:16
  is perfect and morally upright.
• 16:18
  I mean, we're human.
• 16:21
  We're we are going to have moments where
• 16:23
  we where we falter and fail and fall
• 16:25
  down.
• 16:27
  I get that.
• 16:28
  I'm, you know, I'm not saying that the
• 16:30
  kid the students at Hillsdale are 100% perfect.
• 16:32
  I'm sure they're not.
• 16:34
  I'm just comparing the two cultures.
• 16:37
  There is a culture at Hillsdale that believes
• 16:39
  in honor.
• 16:42
  And they hold it to a high esteem.
• 16:45
  They put it on a pedestal, and their
• 16:47
  honor code meets me means something, and I
• 16:49
  believe that it probably used to mean something
• 16:51
  at Princeton as well.
• 16:54
  But over time, uh it stopped.
• 16:57
  It stopped meaning something.
• 16:58
  Honor became just you know, lip service.
• 17:02
  And the the students have have realized, oh,
• 17:04
  gee, this is a this is a ticket
• 17:06
  to an easy A.
• 17:08
  I mean, I can say that I'm gonna
• 17:11
  do something, and then who's gonna know?
• 17:14
  Because it's the honor system.
• 17:15
  Who's going to know?
• 17:17
  No one's gonna know.
• 17:19
  And we used to believe that God would
• 17:21
  know.
• 17:24
  And we used to have a reverence for
• 17:26
  and in God.
• 17:28
  And we used to come to this conclusion
• 17:30
  that uh, well, you know, no one else
• 17:32
  might see it, but but God's gonna see
• 17:34
  it.
• 17:36
  But where's God in all this?
• 17:39
  He's gone.
• 17:40
  We we we threw him out.
• 17:42
  We he's the he's no longer part of
• 17:44
  the equation.
• 17:46
  And therefore, we don't, we we no longer
• 17:47
  have any reverence in him.
• 17:49
  We no longer uh feel like we have
• 17:54
  to uphold any moral code in his name
• 17:58
  by him, for him, or through him.
• 18:03
  All right, my friends, I'm looking at the
• 18:04
  clock.
• 18:05
  Uh I will uh pick up this conversation.
• 18:08
  Uh I didn't mean to go on a
• 18:10
  little uh honor rant.
• 18:11
  Oh, maybe I did.
• 18:13
  Maybe I did mean it.
• 18:14
  Maybe.
• 18:16
  Uh, you know, I don't know.
• 18:17
  Maybe someone needed to hear it.
• 18:18
  All right, we will dive into more of
• 18:20
  this conversation on the other side of this
• 18:21
  break.
• 18:23
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  All right.
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  So uh Princeton has had a little uh
• 22:31
  little bump in the road, a little bump
• 22:33
  in the road over there at Princeton since
• 22:36
  1893.
• 22:39
  The honor system has been uh has been
• 22:42
  the way that they have operated their testing
• 22:44
  and their exams.
• 22:49
  But thanks to AI, it's it's AI's fault,
• 22:50
  Dean.
• 22:52
  It's it's thanks to AI, we've got to
• 22:53
  change things.
• 22:54
  No, it's not.
• 22:55
  It's it's not thanks to AI.
• 22:57
  It's not AI's fault.
• 22:59
  It's the fault of the students.
• 23:01
  It might even be the fault of the
• 23:04
  institution for not keeping honor as a part
• 23:08
  of the culture.
• 23:11
  They're on campus.
• 23:13
  Don't go blaming the the inanimate object here.
• 23:17
  Let's let the blame fall where it should
• 23:19
  fall.
• 23:20
  It should fall on the student body.
• 23:23
  It should uh fall on Princeton.
• 23:25
  Uh, there needs to be maybe more of
• 23:28
  a more of a push to make honor
• 23:31
  uh part of the culture, once again.
• 23:37
  Yeah, I mean, that's just uh do you
• 23:39
  agree or disagree?
• 23:41
  Yes, I just I think that's the way
• 23:42
  it is.
• 23:44
  Go to Kentucky, my friends.
• 23:46
  YouTube, Snap, and TikTok have settled a school
• 23:50
  district's claim in Kentucky that the platforms fueled
• 23:54
  a youth mental health crisis, that the school
• 23:58
  district said it was forced to manage the
• 24:02
  Breathett County School District in rural eastern Kentucky
• 24:07
  still plans to take Meta platforms, parent of
• 24:11
  Facebook and Instagram to trial on June 15th.
• 24:15
  So apparently the settlement is only with YouTube,
• 24:18
  snap TikTok, and not with Facebook, not with
• 24:21
  Instagram.
• 24:23
  They're still in the crosshairs here.
• 24:27
  The agreements detailed in federal court filings last
• 24:30
  week are among the first set for trial
• 24:34
  in more than 1200 similar lawsuits filed by
• 24:37
  a school districts nationwide.
• 24:41
  Do you think that this has it possible
• 24:43
  that school districts are seeing this as a
• 24:46
  uh as a cash cow?
• 24:50
  Do you think?
• 24:52
  Um, a YouTube spokesperson said in a statement,
• 24:55
  this matter has been amicably resolved, and our
• 24:58
  focus remains on building age appropriate products and
• 25:01
  parental controls that deliver on that promise.
• 25:04
  Now, look, I don't mean to say when
• 25:05
  I say that our school is looking at
• 25:07
  this as a cash cow.
• 25:08
  I'm not uh I'm not trying to say
• 25:11
  that there isn't some validity to their claim,
• 25:13
  but I mean, dollar signs are probably gonna
• 25:15
  start, they're gonna probably start dreaming about dollar
• 25:17
  signs here.
• 25:20
  You see these settlements coming down the pike,
• 25:22
  and other districts are gonna want to get
• 25:24
  in on the action.
• 25:26
  Snap and TikTok did not respond for uh
• 25:30
  immediate comment.
• 25:37
  Oh, and and here it is.
• 25:39
  Here it comes.
• 25:40
  The district has sought more than 60 million
• 25:43
  dollars to cover costs of countering social media's
• 25:47
  effects on students, and to fund a 15-year
• 25:50
  mental health program.
• 25:55
  It also asked the court to order changes
• 25:58
  to reduce addictive features on the platforms.
• 26:02
  Terms of the agreement were not disclosed.
• 26:04
  60 million dollars to cover the cost of
• 26:07
  countering social media's effects, and to fund a
• 26:11
  15-year mental health program.
• 26:15
  I mean, it's noble.
• 26:16
  Uh, I think funding a mental health program
• 26:18
  is is noble.
• 26:20
  Uh, but I just uh I don't know
• 26:23
  who's gonna, you know, who's gonna track the
• 26:25
  money here?
• 26:27
  Who's gonna make sure that the money is
• 26:29
  actually being spent on mental health programs?
• 26:32
  I mean, we're talking 60 million dollars.
• 26:36
  Uh who's gonna be in charge of this?
• 26:40
  More than 3300 addiction-related lawsuits are pending in
• 26:43
  California alone.
• 26:47
  Another 2400 uh filed by individuals, cities, states,
• 26:50
  and school districts, have been filed in the
• 26:53
  California federal court.
• 26:56
  Holy smokes.
• 26:57
  So California is loaded.
• 27:00
  Just um, I mean, they're just ready to
• 27:02
  go.
• 27:04
  The uh social media companies have denied the
• 27:07
  allegations.
• 27:09
  They say they already take extensive steps to
• 27:11
  protect teens and young users.
• 27:14
  The settlements come weeks after a landmark verdict
• 27:17
  and a related individual case.
• 27:20
  And so this is this is it right
• 27:21
  here.
• 27:22
  And we talked about this in March when
• 27:25
  a jury found uh Meta and Google's YouTube
• 27:27
  negligent and awarded 6 million to a 20-year-old
• 27:30
  woman.
• 27:34
  Uh do you guys remember that?
• 27:36
  Uh she was identified in court records as
• 27:38
  KGM.
• 27:41
  She argued that she suffered depression, body dysmorphia,
• 27:44
  anxiety, suicidal ideation, and all of this as
• 27:48
  a result of being addicted to the social
• 27:51
  media apps.
• 27:56
  Uh her case focused narrowly on how design
• 28:00
  And function, including features such as notifications, infinite
• 28:00
  and function, including features such as notifications, infinite
• 28:04
  scroll, and the company's proprietary algorithms rather than
• 28:04
  scroll, and the company's proprietary algorithms rather than
• 28:08
  third party content may have led to alleged
• 28:08
  third party content, may have led to alleged
• 28:11
  psychological harms.
• 28:11
  psychological harms.
• 28:16
  Meta and YouTube executives testified that they do
• 28:16
  Meta and YouTube executives testified that they do
• 28:20
  not design their platforms to be addictive.
• 28:20
  not design their platforms to be addictive.
• 28:24
  But in this case, uh, KGM's attorneys said
• 28:24
  But in this case, uh KGM's attorneys said.
• 28:28
  the evidence clearly shows that leadership at both
• 28:32
  meta and YouTube knew of the harms associated
• 28:36
  with preteen use, and that young people were
• 28:40
  with other co-stressers were particularly vulnerable, and that
• 28:43
  they went after the demographic anyway, introducing features
• 28:47
  such as vertical video feeds to compete with
• 28:51
  rivals such as Snapchat.
• 28:56
  Like KGM's case, the Brethett County, I don't
• 28:59
  know if I'm pronouncing that right.
• 29:01
  The Breathett County School Districts Agreement is one
• 29:04
  of a handful of bellwether trials expected to
• 29:08
  have a profound bearing on thousands of related
• 29:11
  consolidated civil injury lawsuits brought by parents, children,
• 29:15
  school districts, and district attorneys.
• 29:18
  So this this landmark case here in March,
• 29:22
  California landed a six million dollar payout to
• 29:26
  a 20-year-old.
• 29:31
  And here we are just a couple months
• 29:33
  later, and you see where this dollar figure
• 29:35
  is jumped.
• 29:36
  It's no longer six million.
• 29:38
  No, the school district here in Kentucky is
• 29:41
  asking for 60 million.
• 29:44
  We just we just 10x this bad boy
• 29:46
  from six to 60.
• 29:48
  But we have to cover costs of countering
• 29:50
  social media's effects on students, and and we
• 29:52
  need to fund a 15 year mental health
• 29:54
  program.
• 29:58
  Look, I you know, I mean, funding the
• 30:00
  mental health program is it's good, it's important.
• 30:03
  I'm sure it is.
• 30:06
  But you think a 10 a 10x jump
• 30:09
  in two months was uh I don't know,
• 30:12
  is it uh are we just following the
• 30:16
  the the dollar signs?
• 30:19
  Are we just seeing dollar signs or are
• 30:22
  we seriously concerned about kids?
• 30:25
  I mean, I I think it's a legitimate
• 30:26
  question.
• 30:28
  And uh, you know, again, are we blaming
• 30:32
  are we putting blame in the right place?
• 30:37
  Um because it's the same, it's kind of
• 30:39
  the same as you know, Princeton blaming AI
• 30:42
  for the students cheating.
• 30:46
  Um the focus needs to be on on
• 30:48
  the kids.
• 30:50
  Why aren't we educating the kids?
• 30:53
  Why aren't we why aren't we taking this
• 30:57
  information out of their out of their possession?
• 31:02
  Oh, you can't just take social media away,
• 31:03
  Dean.
• 31:04
  They're gonna they're gonna be upset.
• 31:06
  They're gonna be they're gonna be mad.
• 31:08
  I mean, all their kids have it.
• 31:11
  I mean, I I can understand that point.
• 31:13
  I was talking to a friend not long
• 31:14
  ago.
• 31:17
  And you know, his daughter's in high school
• 31:19
  and she's mad.
• 31:22
  She's mad because she doesn't have access to
• 31:25
  all the social media that her friends have.
• 31:27
  And the parents are are feeling the wrath
• 31:29
  of that.
• 31:30
  And they, you know, they want to have
• 31:33
  a good relationship with their with their child,
• 31:35
  and you know, there's gonna be some acquiescing.
• 31:38
  I can tell you right now, there is.
• 31:40
  It's just that's just you know where we're
• 31:42
  at.
• 31:44
  And I I get it.
• 31:45
  I, you know, I was a I was
• 31:46
  a parent to to teens once.
• 31:49
  I understand that dilemma.
• 31:52
  Um, you know, we we live in a
• 31:53
  different time, really.
• 31:55
  We we you know, I grew up in
• 31:57
  a time where my parent was my parent.
• 32:00
  You know, they weren't my friend.
• 32:01
  They they did things on behalf of my
• 32:03
  betterment.
• 32:06
  And a lot of times I didn't like
• 32:06
  it.
• 32:08
  I didn't understand it, and it made me
• 32:09
  mad.
• 32:10
  A lot of times it made me mad.
• 32:12
  But I I had I had great parents.
• 32:14
  I mean, looking back on it, I realized
• 32:16
  I I had great parents.
• 32:19
  Um I liked them.
• 32:21
  I still do.
• 32:22
  I mean, they're they're they're gone.
• 32:24
  Both of them are gone, but I I
• 32:25
  did.
• 32:26
  I liked them.
• 32:27
  I wasn't this kid who was I'm just
• 32:28
  angry at my.
• 32:29
  I mean, yeah, there were times I was
• 32:32
  mad at him, but I didn't, I didn't
• 32:34
  harbor any any anger or animosity towards them
• 32:36
  over the course of the years.
• 32:39
  Um but they were doing things and making
• 32:41
  decisions and and deciding on things on on
• 32:43
  my behalf on what was what was best
• 32:46
  for me.
• 32:49
  And you know what?
• 32:50
  Often they didn't they didn't take my my
• 32:52
  feelings into consideration.
• 32:54
  They didn't care about the way I felt
• 32:55
  about it.
• 32:56
  It was the way it was.
• 32:58
  Um, and I I appreciate that now.
• 33:01
  I don't know that I would have appreciated
• 33:02
  it then or that I did appreciate it
• 33:04
  then.
• 33:05
  I appreciate it now, though.
• 33:08
  I look back on it now, and I
• 33:09
  think, you know what?
• 33:10
  That was that was a that was a
• 33:12
  good decision they made.
• 33:14
  Uh that was a good decision, you know,
• 33:16
  keeping me out of that situation, or you
• 33:19
  know, whatever.
• 33:23
  But it's different now.
• 33:24
  It's you know, kids are they're gonna they're
• 33:27
  gonna throw a fit.
• 33:29
  I don't know, some of them might even
• 33:31
  call, you know, protective services.
• 33:33
  I I don't know.
• 33:35
  I I look, I'm just saying I understand
• 33:37
  the dilemma that parents have that they go
• 33:39
  through.
• 33:41
  You know, little Johnny needs a cell phone
• 33:43
  because all the other little Johnnies in his
• 33:45
  classroom have a cell phone, and little Janie
• 33:47
  can't be left out, you know, everyone else
• 33:49
  has this app or that app or this,
• 33:52
  this or that or the other.
• 33:54
  And I'm gonna be left out, and I'm
• 33:56
  not gonna be able to talk to my
• 33:59
  friends and you know, parents feel that pressure,
• 34:01
  and oftentimes they crack underneath the weight of
• 34:04
  it.
• 34:07
  Um, so I I understand that, but but
• 34:10
  look, at some point, we have to we
• 34:12
  have to do what's what's best for the
• 34:14
  child.
• 34:17
  And if that means taking away the cell
• 34:19
  phone, by all means.
• 34:21
  Look, I I can tell you right now,
• 34:23
  Cindy and I have talked about this, and
• 34:26
  it's it's impossible to I mean to go
• 34:28
  back, but knowing now what we know now.
• 34:31
  Uh our kids wouldn't have a cell phone.
• 34:33
  Would you we just wouldn't do it?
• 34:35
  I mean, there would be a time, yes.
• 34:37
  Uh, but it wouldn't be in middle school.
• 34:39
  I can tell you that.
• 34:40
  I mean, it might be later on, late
• 34:42
  high school.
• 34:44
  Um, and there would be uh, I don't,
• 34:46
  I don't know.
• 34:48
  I just I mean it's easier for me
• 34:51
  to talk now because you know, I don't
• 34:54
  I don't have kids that age any longer.
• 34:56
  So it's I don't know, it's easier said
• 34:59
  than than done on my end.
• 35:00
  Done on my end.
• 35:02
  I just I just think that that maybe
• 35:02
  I just I just think that that maybe
• 35:04
  we should consider resting the blame at at
• 35:04
  we should consider resting the blame at the
• 35:07
  the feet of really truly where it belongs.
• 35:07
  feet of really truly where it belongs.
• 35:10
  I mean, it's not just the social media
• 35:10
  I mean, it's not just the social media
• 35:12
  companies here.
• 35:12
  companies here.
• 35:13
  I mean, if they are indeed uh promoting
• 35:13
  I mean, if they are indeed uh promoting
• 35:16
  their algorithms to to draw in and uh
• 35:16
  their algorithms to to draw in and uh
• 35:19
  addict the youth, then they need to be
• 35:19
  addict the youth, then they need to be
• 35:21
  held accountable for that.
• 35:21
  held accountable for that.
• 35:25
  However, you know, as parents find these discoveries,
• 35:25
  However, you know, as parents find these discoveries,
• 35:27
  as parents.
• 35:28
  as parents realize the addictive nature of these
• 35:32
  of these platforms and of the algorithms.
• 35:36
  Parents have to step in.
• 35:38
  And parents have to start making decisions that
• 35:40
  are that are based on the the welfare
• 35:42
  and well-being of their children, even if it
• 35:44
  means, hey, guess what?
• 35:46
  We're taking this away.
• 35:48
  Oh, can't do that.
• 35:50
  Uh, yeah, I just maybe, and maybe we
• 35:53
  could.
• 35:57
  Maybe we could take it away.
• 35:59
  Maybe if our education was focused on, I
• 36:03
  don't know, something something else, something different, something
• 36:07
  of a of a moral nature, something with
• 36:10
  some moral fiber to it, something with um
• 36:14
  uh you know, some some some some foundational
• 36:18
  values and and and virtues, something of of
• 36:22
  worth and something of merit, something that actually
• 36:25
  mattered, I think.
• 36:29
  If if that were the case, then um,
• 36:32
  maybe we might see things differently.
• 36:35
  But uh until we get there, until we
• 36:38
  um until we change things, until the education
• 36:40
  system in this country changes, then you know,
• 36:43
  Princeton's gonna keep having issues with their honor
• 36:46
  code.
• 36:49
  And I and I'm not just putting the
• 36:51
  blame on K-12 education there.
• 36:52
  I think Princeton needs to uh hold honor
• 36:56
  and in a higher esteem, obviously.
• 37:00
  Honor needs to maybe become part of the
• 37:02
  Princeton culture, yet again.
• 37:04
  I mean, obviously it was at one point
• 37:07
  in time, where since 1893, students were allowed
• 37:09
  to take their exams in just a room,
• 37:12
  you know, kicked back and relaxed.
• 37:16
  They had worked hard, they had studied hard,
• 37:18
  and now they were given this opportunity because
• 37:21
  of the honor system to take an exam
• 37:24
  without a proctor breathing over their shoulder.
• 37:28
  But honor's gone.
• 37:30
  It's not the fault of AI.
• 37:31
  Honor, honor has been ushered from the building.
• 37:34
  Honor is no longer with us.
• 37:36
  Your your word no longer means what it
• 37:39
  used to mean, and therefore you get away
• 37:42
  with you know, doing things that otherwise you
• 37:45
  normally wouldn't do because of an honor system.
• 37:49
  Let's make it part of the culture again.
• 37:52
  And it, you know, again, this can't fall
• 37:53
  just to K-12.
• 37:55
  This has to fall to the higher ed.
• 37:57
  They have to create this culture in their
• 38:00
  building and on their campus.
• 38:03
  And they have to, they have to hold
• 38:05
  students' feet to the fire.
• 38:07
  They have to have to tow the line
• 38:08
  here.
• 38:08
  They have to say, look, you're gonna follow
• 38:10
  our honor code, or you're you're gonna be
• 38:11
  gone.
• 38:13
  We're not gonna invite you into our culture
• 38:16
  and our community if you're not going to
• 38:18
  follow our honor code.
• 38:21
  All right.
• 38:22
  Um, it's it's important, and uh, we should
• 38:25
  definitely be um be in engaging in this
• 38:28
  activity.
• 38:31
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  and the power of living nutrition.
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  Visit the spouting company.com and use the code
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  out loud for an exclusive offer.
• 40:53
  So as we talk about what we're missing
• 40:56
  really in society, what we're missing in culture,
• 40:59
  what we're missing in education.
• 41:03
  I'm looking at this piece here in the
• 41:06
  in the uh epoch times called American Made,
• 41:10
  the New Gentleman and the Republic.
• 41:13
  And it describes what our founding fathers thought
• 41:16
  about being a gentleman, what it meant to
• 41:20
  them to being a gentleman.
• 41:24
  In the um in the 18th and 19th
• 41:28
  century, uh the the house of lords in
• 41:32
  England was full of who they referred to
• 41:37
  as uh temporal lords and spiritual lords.
• 41:42
  The temporal faction consisted of hereditary nobility, such
• 41:45
  as dukes and barons.
• 41:49
  The spiritual faction consisted of bishops and archbishops,
• 41:52
  members of the clergy, the cloth.
• 41:56
  Membership in the House of Commons was more
• 41:59
  diverse.
• 42:00
  Was more diverse, lawyers, military officers, the wealthy
• 42:01
  Lawyers, military officers, the wealthy merchants, most importantly,
• 42:05
  merchants, most importantly, the landed gentry.
• 42:05
  the landed gentry.
• 42:10
  These consisted of knights of the Shire and
• 42:10
  These consisted of knights of the Shire and
• 42:13
  men with large estates and eminent lineage, country
• 42:13
  men with large estates and eminent lineage, country
• 42:15
  gentlemen, who were one tier down, but still
• 42:15
  gentlemen who were one tier down, but still
• 42:18
  of high birth or rank and good social
• 42:18
  of high birth or rank and good social
• 42:21
  standing of wealth and especially the wealth of
• 42:21
  standing of wealth, and especially the wealth of
• 42:23
  the inherited kind.
• 42:23
  the inherited kind.
• 42:27
  This was this was the situation.
• 42:27
  This was this was the situation in England.
• 42:31
  In order to be a gentleman, it's almost
• 42:33
  as if it had to run on your
• 42:34
  blood already.
• 42:36
  It had to be in your family line.
• 42:38
  Meanwhile, however, on the other side of the
• 42:42
  Atlantic, in America, the republic which had just
• 42:45
  escaped the bit and bridle of British rule.
• 42:49
  They're fashioning their own definition of what a
• 42:51
  gentleman is.
• 42:54
  And here's what John Adams had to say
• 42:56
  about it.
• 42:58
  We'll start with Adams first.
• 43:01
  While serving as ambassador to Britain in 1785
• 43:05
  to 1788, Adams published his three-volume tome titled
• 43:09
  A Defense of the Constitutions of Government of
• 43:13
  the United States of America.
• 43:18
  Here he wrote that in America, a gentleman
• 43:21
  no longer meant the rich or the poor,
• 43:24
  the highborn or the lowborn, the industrious or
• 43:27
  the idol, but rather all those who have
• 43:30
  received a liberal education.
• 43:34
  Bump bum bum, that is a gentleman, someone
• 43:36
  who's been given a liberal education.
• 43:40
  He further went on and said an ordinary
• 43:42
  degree of erudition in liberal arts and sciences.
• 43:45
  It's what we would call today a classical
• 43:46
  education.
• 43:49
  That to us is a classical education.
• 43:53
  It's the type of education that the founders
• 43:54
  had.
• 43:56
  And Adams believed that this education would create
• 43:59
  an American gentleman.
• 44:02
  He said, whether by birth they be descended
• 44:05
  from magistrates and officers of government or from
• 44:08
  husbandmen, merchants and mechanics or laborers, whether they
• 44:11
  be rich or whether they be poor.
• 44:26
  Peter Berkowitz expanded on Adam's thought.
• 44:29
  Here's what Berkowitz wrote.
• 44:31
  He said, unlike aristocrats in the old world,
• 44:34
  the gentleman in America was defined not by
• 44:37
  lineage and inherited goods, but rather by the
• 44:40
  qualities he exhibited and the character he cultivated.
• 44:43
  Hmm.
• 44:44
  The character he cultivated.
• 44:46
  You mean this is this is what would
• 44:48
  make somebody a gentleman.
• 44:50
  Berkowitz continued.
• 44:51
  The gentleman was also expected to be reasonable,
• 44:55
  tolerant, honest, virtuous, and candid, uh, reflecting this
• 45:00
  shift in the concept of a gentleman between
• 45:04
  uh Europe and America.
• 45:09
  Uh that the signers of the Declaration of
• 45:11
  Independence lived this out.
• 45:14
  And their number, there were lawyers, plantation owners,
• 45:18
  farmers, merchants, four physicians, and one printer, Benjamin
• 45:21
  Franklin.
• 45:25
  Many of these men hadn't come by their
• 45:28
  wealth or their position through birthright or inheritance,
• 45:31
  but instead by their own work and their
• 45:34
  own ingenuity.
• 45:37
  Here were makers not only for an American
• 45:40
  gentleman, but for American manhood in general.
• 45:43
  A real man made his own way in
• 45:45
  the world.
• 45:46
  And with talent and good fortune, he could
• 45:49
  become one of the elite.
• 45:55
  It's kind of the foundation of the country.
• 45:57
  You have the opportunity to be whatever you
• 45:58
  want to be.
• 46:00
  But Adams said, really, you need you need
• 46:02
  this type of education.
• 46:03
  You need a particular type.
• 46:05
  What he referred to as a liberal education,
• 46:08
  we would call the classical education.
• 46:11
  In 1813, uh, when America was again at
• 46:14
  war with Britain, John Adams and Thomas Jefferson
• 46:18
  were exchanging letters back and forth regarding this
• 46:21
  American aristocracy.
• 46:25
  Jefferson had pointed out that even in Europe,
• 46:27
  a change has sensibly taken place in the
• 46:30
  mind of man.
• 46:32
  Here's this quote.
• 46:34
  Science had liberated the ideas of those who
• 46:37
  read and reflect, and the American example had
• 46:40
  kindled feelings of right in the people.
• 46:43
  An insurrection has consequently begun, of science, talents,
• 46:47
  and courage against rank and birth, which have
• 46:50
  fallen into contempt.
• 46:54
  In his reply, Adams began with a now
• 46:57
  famous remark that there is a natural aristocracy
• 47:00
  among men, the grounds of which are virtue
• 47:03
  and talents.
• 47:06
  This is the new aristocracy.
• 47:08
  Are you virtuous?
• 47:09
  Do you have talent?
• 47:11
  Do you have the ability to persevere and
• 47:15
  the wherewithal to accompany that perseverance?
• 47:20
  Adams in his lengthy letter pointed out the
• 47:23
  variances of talent that will lift men and
• 47:26
  women into this natural aristocracy.
• 47:30
  They range from education to physical strength to
• 47:32
  beauty.
• 47:35
  He also brought into his discussion the old
• 47:38
  New England families and the equally old Virginian
• 47:41
  families, whose offspring still occupied a place of
• 47:44
  prestige in the public eye, and in government,
• 47:47
  because of their name and hereditary wealth.
• 47:51
  Interestingly, there was no mention of George Washington
• 47:54
  in this discussion, one of the Virginians of
• 47:56
  old.
• 48:00
  And of all the famous figures in our
• 48:03
  history, of course, George Washington stands atop of
• 48:05
  the list.
• 48:11
  He more than matched the criteria mentioned by
• 48:14
  Adams and Jefferson.
• 48:19
  In an essay of remembrance, written in 1814
• 48:23
  by Jefferson, some 15 years after Washington's death.
• 48:28
  Jefferson called Washington a wise, a good, and
• 48:30
  a great man.
• 48:33
  In this essay, he noted some of Washington's
• 48:36
  flaws, such as his temper and his lack,
• 48:39
  perhaps of formal education.
• 48:42
  But Jefferson concluded in this quote by saying,
• 48:45
  it may truly be said that never did
• 48:47
  nature and fortune combine more perfectly to make
• 48:50
  a great man.
• 48:53
  Washington put great belief and bearing and self-control
• 48:56
  when he he copied out and memorized by
• 49:00
  heart the 110 rules of civility as a
• 49:00
  Copied out uh and and memorize by heart
• 49:03
  teenager.
• 49:03
  the 110 rules of civility as a teenager.
• 49:07
  Um he was always aware of his conduct.
• 49:08
  He was always aware of his conduct.
• 49:11
  He was always aware of his word choice.
• 49:11
  He was always aware of his word choice.
• 49:13
  Yet among all these character traits and virtues
• 49:13
  Yet among all these character traits and virtues
• 49:16
  of the gentleman, and so of manhood itself,
• 49:16
  of the gentleman, and so of manhood itself,
• 49:19
  none more important than honor and reputation stood
• 49:19
  none more important than honor and reputation stood
• 49:21
  out to Washington.
• 49:21
  out to Washington.
• 49:24
  Honor and reputation.
• 49:24
  Honor and reputation.
• 49:28
  There's this theme here.
• 49:28
  There's this theme here that we've kind of
• 49:30
  lost.
• 49:32
  We've kind of lost honor and reputation.
• 49:36
  I mean, when you have when you have
• 49:38
  kids at Princeton that have signed the honor
• 49:41
  code, that they're not going to cheat.
• 49:43
  And as they're taking an unproctored exam, if
• 49:47
  they were concerned about honor and about their
• 49:50
  reputation, they would uphold the honor code.
• 49:55
  Uh we've lost these two things.
• 49:59
  In his book, Honor a History, James Bowman
• 50:03
  notes Washington's deep affection for Cato, a tragedy,
• 50:06
  which uh was Joseph Addison's play about virtuous,
• 50:09
  about the virtuous defender of the Roman Republic.
• 50:13
  Uh, Washington had arranged for this play to
• 50:16
  be performed for his soldiers at Valley Forge.
• 50:20
  He had hoped it would be a lesson
• 50:24
  in Republican virtues and the cultivation of honor,
• 50:28
  because Washington believed in the cultivation of honor.
• 50:32
  He wanted his men to be immersed in
• 50:34
  the cultivation of honor.
• 50:36
  In other words, he wanted to create a
• 50:39
  culture in which honor was put on a
• 50:42
  pedestal.
• 50:46
  Um regarding the recruitment of officers for the
• 50:49
  Continental Army, Washington wrote to then Governor Patrick
• 50:52
  Henry of Virginia, 1776.
• 50:55
  Here's what he said about his officers.
• 50:57
  He said that the true criterion to judge
• 51:00
  by is to consider whether the candidate for
• 51:03
  office has a just pretension to the character
• 51:06
  of a gentleman, a proper sense of honor,
• 51:09
  and some reputation to lose.
• 51:12
  If you have reputation to lose, and Washington's
• 51:15
  estimation, you you're going to shoot to do
• 51:17
  the right thing.
• 51:20
  And you're going to be honorable in doing
• 51:22
  it.
• 51:23
  Even a cursory look at American history from
• 51:26
  the revolution to the Civil War reveals the
• 51:29
  premier place of a code of honor among
• 51:32
  men, often violently enforced.
• 51:35
  For example, the duel of Aaron Burr and
• 51:37
  Alexander Hamilton.
• 51:39
  The duels and brawls fought by Andrew Jackson
• 51:41
  in defense of his wife's reputation.
• 51:44
  The dispatching of ships and marines to fight
• 51:47
  in Tripoli, when Thomas Jefferson deemed the nation's
• 51:49
  honor at stake.
• 51:52
  And these instances and more, honor demanded a
• 51:55
  response.
• 51:59
  Following the Civil War, when Robert E.
• 52:03
  Lee was president of Washington College, a new
• 52:05
  student asked him for a copy of the
• 52:07
  rules.
• 52:09
  We have but one rule here, Lee replied.
• 52:13
  And it is that every student must be
• 52:16
  a gentleman, which encompassed a lot of a
• 52:19
  great many things.
• 52:22
  Born into an age in which the concept
• 52:25
  of manhood is denigrated or viewed with suspicion.
• 52:28
  The word gentleman is seldom heard.
• 52:30
  Young men today would likely find such a
• 52:32
  rule incomprehensible.
• 52:34
  Well, what does it mean to even be
• 52:35
  a gentleman?
• 52:37
  Boys can be taught table manners and other
• 52:39
  forms of etiquette.
• 52:41
  But as may be construed from earlier generations,
• 52:43
  these were the lower rungs of a ladder
• 52:46
  and the climb to manhood and becoming a
• 52:48
  gentleman.
• 52:51
  The rest of what it means to be
• 52:54
  a man is learned by emulation, by learning
• 52:57
  and copying from other worthy men.
• 53:00
  The founding fathers learned virtue and honor from
• 53:02
  scripture, from Roman history, such as Plutarch's Lives
• 53:05
  and Livy's Histories and from their fathers and
• 53:08
  teachers and mentors.
• 53:11
  Washington had his copy book and his Cato.
• 53:14
  Adams, Jefferson, Madison, and Hamilton immersed themselves in
• 53:17
  Cicero, admiring his eloquence and his bold defense
• 53:20
  of the republic against tyranny.
• 53:25
  What do we have today?
• 53:26
  We have Captain Underpants.
• 53:28
  That's what we have.
• 53:30
  As some 21st century men and women tried
• 53:33
  to reassemble the puzzle pieces, as it were,
• 53:36
  the puzzle pieces of manhood, models of manhood
• 53:38
  are often missing.
• 53:42
  Far too many boys are raised without fathers,
• 53:45
  or perhaps worse, raised by indifferent fathers.
• 53:48
  Far too many males remain adolescents into their
• 53:52
  20s, having taken as their models celebrities, social
• 53:55
  media influencers, and other contemporary icons.
• 53:59
  This passage from C.S.
• 54:01
  Lewis's The Abolition of Man strikes the nail
• 54:03
  squarely on the head.
• 54:06
  It's one of our favorites here.
• 54:08
  Here's this quote.
• 54:10
  In a sort of ghastly simplicity, we remove
• 54:12
  the organ and demand the function.
• 54:15
  We make men without chests and expect of
• 54:17
  them virtue and enterprise.
• 54:19
  We laugh at honor and are shocked to
• 54:21
  find traitors in our midst.
• 54:23
  We castrate and bid the geldings be fruitful.
• 54:28
  If we wish to make men rather than
• 54:30
  geldings, we need not reach back to ancient
• 54:32
  Rome.
• 54:33
  We can teach the young through the examples
• 54:36
  of Americans who deserve their attention.
• 54:38
  This is why history class becomes so important
• 54:40
  to us.
• 54:42
  Americans such as Washington and Adams, Lincoln and
• 54:44
  Booker T.
• 54:46
  Washington.
• 54:48
  Reading and studying the lives of these men
• 54:51
  and women, such as their virtues and their
• 54:53
  flaws will aid immensely in creating a generation
• 54:56
  of men.
• 54:59
  And that's what we need more than anything,
• 55:01
  a generation of men.
• 55:03
  Just as importantly, the young require living examples
• 55:07
  of good men, fathers, teachers, mentors, clergy, individuals
• 55:11
  who will practice virtue and honor.
• 55:15
  To make gentlemen, we must first of all
• 55:17
  make men.
• 55:20
  That's what's what's got to happen.
• 55:24
  First and foremost, we need to make men.
• 55:29
  We um clearly we need to restore honor
• 55:32
  and reputation once again.
• 55:36
  Honor and reputation.
• 55:37
  It should come back.
• 55:39
  We need it to come back.
• 55:42
  And uh maybe we start by not blaming
• 55:44
  AI because of all the cheating.
• 55:47
  Maybe we start by blaming ourselves because we
• 55:51
  need to raise individuals who are going to
• 55:54
  be gentlemen and who are going to be
• 55:57
  ladies in the way it was viewed upon
• 56:00
  It was viewed upon by the early American
• 56:01
  by the early American founders.
• 56:02
  founders.
• 56:05
  That's my take today, my friends.
• 56:06
  That's my take today, my friends.
• 56:08
  That's it.
• 56:08
  That's it.
• 56:08
  That's my rant.
• 56:08
  That's my rant.
• 56:09
  That's that's my two cent rant.
• 56:09
  That's that's my two cent rant.
• 56:12
  I guess take it for what it's worth.
• 56:12
  I guess take it for what it's worth.
• 56:14
  But I'm right.
• 56:14
  But I'm right.
• 56:15
  I can tell you that right now.
• 56:15
  I can tell you that right now.
• 56:17
  I am not wrong on this front.
• 56:17
  I am not wrong on this front.
• 56:19
  All right.
• 56:19
  All right.
• 56:20
  But unfortunately, that's it.
• 56:20
  But unfortunately, that's it.
• 56:22
  We are we are plum out of time.
• 56:22
  We are we are plum out of time.
• 56:23
  I wish we had more time to dive
• 56:23
  I wish we had more time to dive
• 56:24
  into it.
• 56:24
  into it.
• 56:25
  Perhaps tomorrow.
• 56:25
  Perhaps tomorrow.
• 56:26
  There's always tomorrow.
• 56:26
  There's always tomorrow.
• 56:28
  Thank you for joining.
• 56:28
  Thank you for joining me.
• 56:30
  Thank you for being a part of this
• 56:31
  network.
• 56:32
  Thank you for being a part of this
• 56:33
  program.
• 56:35
  We love that you are a part of
• 56:36
  this audience and that you're sharing the good
• 56:38
  news.
• 56:40
  Continue to do so.
• 56:42
  Encourage your friends and family to get on
• 56:43
  the dean's list.
• 56:46
  Let's unite to renovate the age.