The original headline we wrote for this article was, “Have Your Kids Watch Little House on the Prairie”. After some thought, however, we decided that parents and kids alike could benefit from this throwback television series. To give you fair warning, there are no sex scenes, no serial killers, no reality television, no cursing, and no car chases in the Little House series; before you watch season one episode one, you will need to walk yourself through a bit of a paradigm shift relative to what your mind is used to seeing on cable television or on your streaming services.
If you are younger, especially under the age of 40, you will need to allow your mind to imagine a world and society that is far simpler and more genuine than what we have come to accept as our reality today. Then you need to accept that the people and the interactions depicted in the various episodes are a very true representation of what life was like in middle America in the late 19th century. Admittedly, if your child has already hit the teen years, the transition from YouTube videos and social media to Little House on the Prairie may be too large of a leap. If not, gather the family, grab some popcorn, wrap up with a warm blanket, and press play.
As some of you know, Little House on the Prairie is a television series loosely based on Laura Ingalls Wilder’s best-selling series of Little House Books. The protagonists of the books and the series is the Ingalls family, who live on a farm near Walnut Grove, Minnesota in the 1870s–90s. Charles, Caroline, Laura, Mary, and Carrie Ingalls comprise a young pioneer family struggling to make a life for themselves.
The first handful of episodes journey with the family as they make the difficult and dangerous move west, chasing the dream of fertile farmland and a new beginning. One of the first realities that strikes the viewer is the uncertainty that was a normal part of life for most of human history. Charles was completely dependent on his hard work, his hunting skills, and on the weather to determine if his family would have enough food to eat each year. The entire family worked together to tend the animals, build and maintain the house and barn, and prepare meals. If the crop failed, Charles would have to travel to find work, usually physically demanding work, and Caroline would be left to care for the children and tend the animals, sometimes for weeks and months at a time.
These people had to be tough – physically, emotionally, psychologically, and spiritually. When hardships came their way, they met the threat head-on, utilizing all their human potential to survive. If someone was sick, there were no hospitals nearby and very limited access to doctors. If the illness was serious, like typhus or smallpox, there was a real possibility of death for the patient and possibly for other family members as well. When tragedy struck, as it regularly did through illness, accident, or lack of resources, they gripped hard to their faith in God as they struggled to make sense of the loss.
Neighbors and family looked out for each other. If a fire destroyed a barn or a home, the neighbors and town would work together to find the necessary supplies and provide the labor to get the family back on their feet.
The reality of life on Little House on the Prairie stands in stark contrast to the twisted version of life presented on social media, YouTube, and streaming services. While the Ingalls show us the power and the full potential of the human person, our kids are receiving daily doses of human weakness, ignorance, and confusion. Charles and Caroline modeled courage and selflessness, while the media is demanding victimhood for all and constant self-aggrandizement.
We and our kids are victims, to a certain extent, of how easy our lives have become in this country. Guiding principles like hard work, raising a family, looking out for your neighbor, and holding tight to God, are slowly slipping away as we steam ahead to the unknown technology-driven society that already seems so broken. As our younger generations lose their purpose, they ‘find’ purpose in dangerous and spirit-crushing trends and ‘movements’ on TikTok and Instagram. The more bizarre and de-humanizing the trend, the louder the cry for us to embrace it.
Perhaps we can help our children to rediscover their amazing human potential and their purpose. Perhaps we need to look back to shows like Little House on the Prairie, or the Waltons, or listen to the stories of those who have lived lives of heroic selflessness. Let’s expose our children to the stories of soldiers who bravely fought to protect the innocent; to the message of single moms who commit their lives to raising their kids despite the loneliness and fatigue; to the witness of missionaries and those who minister to the poor, seeking nothing in return; and the joy of priests and pastors and other religious who commit their lives to God and neighbor. Let’s encourage our kids to look outside of themselves to find their purpose in a world that desperately needs strong, altruistic leaders.
Make no mistake – life was not perfect and life was certainly not easier in the past – but people knew their purpose and were not lost as so many of us are today. Let’s decide today whose stories we are going to allow to influence our lives and the lives of our children; then let’s commit to model that purpose-driven life for them and for the world.