Glenn Beck: Are We Too Stupid to Raise Our Own Kids?

This is a rush transcript from "Glenn Beck," October 14, 2010. This copy may not be in its final form and may be updated.

GLENN BECK, HOST: Hello, America.

Tonight, we are going to relearn some of the correct principles in our life because at the end of the show today, or by the end of the show today, I'm going to tell you a little bit about something the doctors told me was happening in my life. And the advice they gave me and it's going to be the same kind of advice I give you, and that is: let's stop sweating some of the crazy stuff and let's start looking to the correct principles in life.

I want to show you something. I think this is a — this is a phrase that I think is one of the most important phrases that we can learn. "Teach a man correct principles and let him govern himself."

What does that mean? That means I don't have to tell you what to think. I don't have to tell you where to go to church. I don't have to tell you how to vote or who to vote for. I don't have to teach you anything except correct principles.

Nobody has to teach me anything, except correct principles and then back away. If I know the correct principles, I can govern myself.

So, what are those principles? Well, there's a few of them.

First one is hard work. Hard work — the principle behind hard work is it will give you self-esteem. It will give you hope for the future, that your future can be better, that if you work hard, you can better yourself and your family and your situation.

Now, let me ask you this: How hard do you work for your money? Do you have an easy job or just — money just magically shoot out of the back of your pants and right directly in your wallet?

Boy, I wish I had that kind of magic butt but I don't. I work hard for my money. I'm guessing you do, too.

That's what's most aggravating to me about the IRS. It's not that the government takes my money — although, it's not about that. It's the way they treat my money.

My money is — and yours, too — is a representation of my time. That's all what money is. It represents your time.

You did time — well, more in Washington should actually do time, but you know what I mean. You're spending time and in exchange for that time, you get money.

So, when the IRS comes in and the government comes in and takes your money, here is correct principle number one: value my time and my effort and my money and don't waste it. Do you know that you just spent $2 million on a Cass Sunstein nudge for your children, to stop your kids from being fat kids, skinny kids and kids that climb on rocks? Why are kids fat? Because they're not climbing on rocks.

But instead of going that way and saying, hey, kids, go climb on rocks, instead, they just took $2 million of your hard-earned money to manipulate school children into picking fruits and vegetables over cookies and French fries. Does this sound like Cass Sunstein?

Listen to some of the ideas for manipulating your kids, tricking your kids into making healthier choices. Here's number one: hiding the chocolate milk behind the plain milk. Like fat kids are going to — I was a fat kid. Like I'm going to sit there and go, no, (INAUDIBLE) that milk is too far. I can't, I can't. Well, you're not going to reach back and get it?

How about putting the salad bar next to checkout? That's after I got the cake and pie and everything else. And I'm like, yes, that would have been a good idea. Here, I'm having this.

How about placing fruit in pretty baskets? Look at the fruit in the pretty basket. I want to eat it.

Accepting only cash as payment for dessert.

Using pre-paid cards that only allow students to purchase healthy options from the school cafeteria. They say the research project is necessary because leaving choices to students and parents will not translate into good choices.

Once again, may I just repeat that — could you bring it back up, please? It is making — leaving choices to students and parents will not translate into good choices. Oh!! So who makes the choice for you, Homer?

Once again, progressives know better than you. And you are now paying to have Cass Sunstein, a guy who I say is the most dangerous man in America, because first, it's nudge, then it's shove, then it becomes shoot.

Some will argue, "Oh, come on, it's only about school lunches. What's the big deal? It's school lunches." Really?

I don't know about you, but I don't want the federal government in my school's — in kid's lunch bag. Do you know that people in Great Britain said almost the very same thing?

See, they are a few steps ahead in the progressive Fabian idea of progress. They are confiscating now, and, in fact, they just did it. They confiscated a kid's grilled cheese sandwich because it didn't have a tomato or lettuce in it! Oh! You got to be kidding me.

They're doing this kind of food police in Arizona as well, in a public charter school. I'll tell you about in a second. They are not allowed to have white bread or American cheese. What a surprise, they don't want American cheese. No processed food. No processed meat. No, no, no. No foods that end in "ose."

They'll use federal dollars to raise up a bunch of environmental militants, but heaven forbid we use those tax dollars to teach about God. But that's tomorrow show. You don't want to miss this.

The principle that they are teaching, remember, the idea is teach a man correct principles and let him govern himself. The principle they are teaching is that the federal government knows better than mom or dad or even teacher.

Let me tell you this. Uncle Sam, he is not your uncle. If he is, he's the uncle that should be in prison. Tip, he's wearing the striped pants already!

He's not your uncle. But we're not even making him Uncle Sam anymore. He's Daddy Sam! Daddy, please help me. Tell me what to eat, daddy, please?

You think they're going to stop at lunch? If they think we are incapable of feeding or raising our children properly, they will manipulate us into everything. They're doing it already in health care. Remember, you're too stupid to figure that out.

What did Joe Biden say? They would like to go off and campaign on the things that they've done. It's just so complex. People won't understand it. I'm surprised we just don't have government drool cups strapped to our face.

Here's what they're doing to our schools now. In Huntington, West Virginia, elementary students won't be playing on swing sets any longer because the school district has decided to take those dangerous swing sets down. Their casualty insurance provider has to pay two liability claims totaling $1,500. They've also been sued twice in the last year for swing- related incidents.

What is a swing-related incident? I don't — it's a swing set! How is it our parents and our grandparents and we made it unscathed with swing sets?

Quote, "In this day and age, we have to do everything we can to keep our kids safe." Jedd Flowers of the school district.

Jedd, that doesn't involve taking the swing sets away! What are you talking about? You want to keep our kids safe? What do you say we ramp up the security — oh, I don't know, at the airports? How about Amtrak?

In Wichita, schools are now banning silly bands bracelet because there were too many arguments over bad trades or trades gone bad. And they were the culprit in a spitball incident in a cafeteria. Not a spitball incident! No!

In Fairfax, Virginia, school officials had banished chocolate milk from the menu because this year they are trying to have healthier school lunches. Some parents have launched complaints because they say the kids won't choose regular milk, leaving them getting zero milk instead of chocolate milk.

New York City schools, also in the name of healthier choices, are reducing calorie intake for kids. And so, they've decided to ban bake sales.

In California, some of the students were busted looking up dirty words in the dictionary. One of the students even found the term "oral sex" in the dictionary. Yes. The school district promptly responded by — and I am not making this up — banning the dictionary.

OK. If we are going to go down the road where we don't want our kids to know about oral sex, then maybe we should have ban the White House, oh, I don't know, about 10 years ago. But nobody seemed to care about it then.

Could we also just take a step back and know that kids are going to be kids and they're going to look up funny words? Come on, really. Really!

You know, if I was talking to Richard and I shortened it, do you think kids should ban the word Richard because if I shorten it, kids are going to go (INAUDIBLE). Hello! What is wrong with us?

Last year, five students were sent home for wearing American flag t- shirts on Cinco de Mayo because it could have caused some problems there. It's awfully — look at those t-shirts! Do you see those t-shirts? Ahhh! Yes, nationalism.

Last winter holiday season, a school in Oregon removed a holiday giving tree. The winter holiday season — a holiday giving tree was removed from the school because several families complained that it was still a religious symbol.

I don't have enough blood to shoot right — you know, I'm going blind? I'm reading this stuff every day. Yes, you could just tune out. You could just go back eating Cheetos or whatever it is you're doing. I got to live here.

We are now at the point where I think I'm actually surprised that people aren't protesting that the winter holiday tree isn't a Christmas tree! Aren't we about to go full circle in this insanity? What the heck is happening to us?

Well, it makes me think about Michelle Obama who said Barack knows that we're going to have to change our traditions, and our language, and our conversations. He'll never — he'll force us to be involved and he'll never let us go back to the life we once led. Oh! Well, thank you, Daddy and Mommy Sam.

Now, to a public charter school in Tucson, Arizona. It has taken a food police to a whole new level in America. Led by an overzealous food nut principal, they had banned kids eating food with white flour, refined sugar and anything defined as processed food. They confiscated bagged lunches.

Confiscated — he's got a Ritz Cracker! He's got a Ritz Cracker. Take it!

They have taken Ritz Cracker according to an 8-year-old third grader, Jacob Price, quote, "It has to say 100 percent juice. If it says just natural, that's not allowed! I wish we could bring in more kind of food like Oreos." That's a third grader. That's the way he should be thinking.

The principal says if everyone just follows her strict rules, your child will be (INAUDIBLE). Quote, "It is much more difficult to become obese by overeating fruits and veggies." Oh, yes? We're Americans. Try us. We'll find a way.

Now, why is this all happening to us? Well, one, progressives want to engineer society in their own perfect vision. They don't believe that you're capable of raising your children. They didn't think it in 1910, when life was pretty sweet. And they don't think it now.

So, soon, they'll be right, because they have erased every single option for you to choose correct principles. And how are you going to learn? How are you going to learn that that's a bad principle?

Well, somebody over and you're going, no, I can't choose that one over there? No, mommy?

As they make more and more policies, they make you and me and more importantly, our children — we're not thinking for ourselves anymore. You know what the most disturbing poll is, or study I've seen on our kids in school? That we are losing our creativity. We are losing the ability to solve problems.

Why? Because we don't have problems, because the government won't teach us correct principles, won't allow us to have correct principles because we're not going to govern ourselves. No problems. They'll solve it, so we don't solve it ourselves. Don't you see?

For people who believe in evolution, they're reverse-engineering us. They don't let you feel the consequences. Well, at what point when there is no pain on anything and you don't have to ever do anything, there's no consequence. Everything is paid for. At point you're like, I don't care, whatever?

Here's your choice, America. Here are the correct principles. Just on this one.

Here's the problem. Kids are fat. Don't tell me that Americans aren't fat.

I mean, have you ever been to like Disneyland? Look at us! I like it. But it ain't healthy.

Kids are fat. So, here's your solutions. Solution "A," turn off the TV. My mom when I was 8 years old, she actually came in and she said, "Turn off the TV." I lived in Seattle. It was like one sunny day in like the first 10 years of life. She said, "Turn off the TV and go outside and play."

When is the last time you said that? "Turn off the TV and go outside and play." Don't do it now. It's a bad idea now.

Video games — turn off the video games. Let our kids play games other than cup stacking in school.

Oh, you know what? Kickball, he might get hit in the face with a ball. Yes, I was on the receiving end of the ball to the face when I was a kid all the time. Yes. That happens. It's called kickball. You're going to fall down and go, boo-boo.

You might actually fall off a swing. Aww! It's going to hurt. Get up.

When are we going to start teaching our kids that? Let them play games.

How about this one? Can your child — ask your child this: an apple a day keeps the — see if they know it. See if they ever heard it. Keeps the doctor away! Oh, why do you think they said that? Fruit, good for you.

Here's another idea. Solution "A," my solutions: Clowns don't make health food. Just a safety tip.

Five, common sense and be a parent. That's our biggest problem. We're not being parents anymore. Do you remember when you're — do you remember when somebody in your neighborhood growing up, you'd be doing something, screwing around and somebody would say, knock it off? I know your father. Do you want me to call your father? And you'd be like, no.

Now, do you say that? No. Because most likely, you don't know the person in your neighborhood.

Most likely that person, if you say something, this is what really it is — your kid, that kid, will most likely say to you, you're not the boss of me. You don't have a right to say that. You can't say that to me. My dad has an attorney.

And that kid's dad does have an attorney. And that kid, when you call up and say, hey, what the hell is wrong with your son? You know what he'll say? Who are you to say that to my son?

Teach a man correct principles. Gang, we're in this together. We're in this together. Who am I to say that to your son? Your son is being a snot-nosed brat. And if it's mine, you have a right to say that to me. "Hey, I just want to let you know your son was doing this." Thank you for that. I appreciate it.

So, there is my solution. But here's the government solution. Solution "B": ban all the sodas and fries. Number two, limit playground stuff. Take the swings down. They might hurt themselves. They can cup stack! Big fatty fat fatsos can cup stack.

Define food deserts. No, kids, that's not "desserts," that's "deserts." Believe it or not, the government says we have them. It's where only McDonald's are. It's a food desert. We've got to have a fresh fruit stand some place. Yes, that's the problem.

Fourth step is sue somebody.

And fifth: Demonize companies like McDonald's.

If you don't take control of your kids, if you don't become a parent, if you don't say turn off the TV, give me the video game, go outside and play the game. Oh, Johnny got a scraped knee. Son, I love you. You're fine. You're going to get a scraped knee. Go back out and play.

Stop with the attorneys. Stop. If you don't do these things, then the government must do these things.

Those are your correct principles. Do these or they will.

Now, it's up to me to teach my son not to play video games all day long. It's up to me to teach him don't eat 500 Oreos. It's up to me to say, don't be a dirt bag and look up oral sex in the dictionary when you're looking up "opaque." Opaque is a word. Look it up.

We need to restore principles in our lives. We need to teach ourselves the correct principles and then pass them to our children. What one generation tolerates, the other embraces.

Stop worrying about your responsibility. You pick up your rights, and your responsibilities will automatically restore themselves because you would never, if you were doing this, you and your children would never let a government do that to you.

Teach a man correct principles and let him govern himself. Do it today!

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