Educational Thoughts
When "Extremism" Means Thinking Differently
As progressive teachers portray the uptake of conservative values as “rising student extremism,” we see this as further evidence of the intolerance within the education sector toward students who hold traditional beliefs.
At Manukau Christian School, we affirm that every classroom operates within an ideological framework. To deny this reality invites subtle indoctrination disguised as neutrality. We believe that what New Zealand’s education system—and society as a whole—most needs is a return to a Christian foundation, the only sure path to moral renewal and national flourishing.
The examples included young students calling themselves “Trump boys,” and others submitting assignments arguing for traditional wife roles, labelled as “trad-wife ideologies.” The article spoke of misinformation, disinformation, and what has become a catch-all phrase — “toxic masculinity.”
I found myself asking whether these examples genuinely qualify as extremism. Historically, the word extremism has referred to violent or hateful movements — the kind that pose real danger to people and to society. Yet in this article, the term was used to describe students who simply hold views different from their teachers’ progressive orthodoxy on politics and gender ideology.
Exactly what is wrong with boys supporting Donald Trump? Would it be a problem if they declared themselves “Harris boys” instead? What is so concerning about students valuing motherhood, marriage, or traditional moral convictions that their teachers may not share? Why are these views dangerous? What counts as extremism in today’s world — and who gets to decide?
I suggest that this tells us more about the ideological lens through which many New Zealand teachers view society than it does about the supposed “radicalisation” of our young people. The real story here is not a rise in extremism among students, but a growing intolerance of ideas that fall outside the narrow bounds of modern progressive thought.
The regnant progressive ideology has been the orthodoxy for so long that many who hold it have become blind to the fact that it is an ideology. The PPTA report boldly claimed that “our classrooms are not ideological battlegrounds — they are spaces for learning, empathy, and growth.” But this is a philosophically naïve view of education.
Every classroom is ideological. Every teacher, curriculum, and school — indeed, every nation and people — operates with a vision of what is good, true, and beautiful. There is no neutrality, and there are no uninterpreted facts. The reigning orthodoxy likes to pretend otherwise, disguising its own worldview as “common sense” while branding all challenges to it as ideological.
This is precisely how an ideology maintains dominance: by hiding itself. When education denies its own assumptions, we have indoctrination by stealth. The truth is that all education disciples. It shapes loves, loyalties, and moral imaginations. What’s really going on is progressive resentment of any challenge to its authority. These teachers are not really concerned about extremism; they are uncomfortable that some students dare to think differently from them.
I would suggest that the real extremism in our society comes not from students who hold traditional views, but from the progressive ideology that dominates our institutions. The beliefs now treated as ‘normal’ in public education — moral relativism, radical individualism, and the rejection of God’s design for gender and family — would have been considered extreme in any other era of history.
These are the ideas that have reshaped our culture and unsettled our young people, not a handful of boys who admire Donald Trump or girls who value marriage and motherhood. Many parents, and their children too, are increasingly frustrated at being told what they are permitted to think and speak. They can see that a line has been crossed — that education is being used to enforce conformity to a worldview they do not share.
So, we are beginning to see the early signs of a pushback. The anxiety voiced in this report is not really about student extremism at all, but about the fear within the liberal progressive establishment that its long-held ideological monopoly is starting to crumble.
After decades of progressive dominance, society is not better off than it was. We are poorer — not only economically, but morally. Families are fractured, our young people are confused, and many are longing for moral clarity, for family, stability, and purpose.
As Christians, we ought to pray that this moment will not simply see the pendulum swing politically, but that it will lead to genuine repentance — a returning to Christ and to God’s design for humanity, for family, and for society. Only such a renewal can bring true peace and blessing to our nation.
At Manukau Christian School, we are ideological — and we are not ashamed of that. We believe that societies flourish only to the extent that they honour Christ as King and live under His law. We openly acknowledge that we are a Christian school: we teach the Scriptures and aim to disciple students under the lordship of Christ so that they may go out into society living with Jesus as their King, in obedience to His Word, loving their neighbours, and serving faithfully in every sphere of life.
We do not hide our convictions or claim neutrality. We teach our students to think critically, to weigh competing worldviews, and to discern truth through the lens of Scripture. In a world filled with ideological confusion, we believe this clarity — rooted in Christ — offers young people true freedom, confidence, and hope.
We are equipping our young people with a Christian worldview so that they can live wisely and courageously in a confused age and, by God’s grace, help turn the hearts of this nation back to Christ. It is, after all, righteousness that exalts a nation. Teachers, parents, and students alike are part of this shared mission of cultural renewal — forming young men and women who will contribute to the good of New Zealand under Christ’s kingship.
If the PPTA’s report means that young people who seek to follow Christ — upholding a Christian sexual ethic and the traditional biblical vision of marriage and family — are now classed as “extremists,” then perhaps that tells us more about our times than about our students. Our hope is that such faithfulness will one day be seen not as extreme, but as normal — the mark of a nation returning to God. Until that day, may we stand firm, raise up courageous young men and women, and trust that God will bring blessing upon our students, our families, and our nation.