Waking Up to the Programming: Why Cultural Lies Are a Threat to Our Kids

If you teach a generation to devalue their own dignity, you make them more vulnerable to abuse—because you’ve already broken down the boundaries meant to protect them.

Every day at Trees of Hope, we work to prevent sexual abuse and walk alongside those healing from it. But what happens when abuse isn’t just personal—it’s cultural? What happens when the very air our children breathe is laced with lies about their worth, their bodies, and their identity?

A recent article by Dr. McFillin exposed this uncomfortable reality: our culture is no longer just tolerating harmful messages—it’s celebrating them. Young women are being taught that their worth is defined by sexual performance, that STDs are badges of empowerment, and that self-objectification is liberation. These aren’t fringe ideas anymore—they’re mainstream, viral, and dangerously accepted.

At Trees of Hope, we recognize this for what it is: grooming.

Not in the traditional sense, but in the slow, systemic way that shapes how young people see themselves and what they believe they’re worth. And if you teach a generation to devalue their own dignity, you make them more vulnerable to abuse, because you’ve already broken down the boundaries meant to protect them.

It’s no longer enough to warn parents about the stranger danger lurking outside. The greater threat is the cultural programming happening inside our homes, through screens, music, influencers, and even misguided mental health systems that medicate instead of investigate. As Dr. McFillin writes, “Therapists are sleepwalking through a battlefield, treating casualties without ever looking up to see who’s firing the weapons.”

That’s why our work matters.

We’re here to equip parents with real tools—not fear tactics—to recognize the signs, ask the right questions, and protect their kids from a world that’s trying to shape them before they even know who they are.

We’re here to help survivors rewrite the stories that culture tried to brand them with—stories of shame, silence, and unworthiness—and replace them with truth, hope, and healing.

And we’re here to say loud and clear: This is not normal. This is not empowering. And we do not have to participate.

There is another way.

At Trees of Hope, we believe in protecting the future and healing the past. That means equipping families with the truth, restoring dignity to survivors, and creating a world where abuse doesn’t get the final say.

If you’re a parent, we offer practical tools to help you safeguard your children from the lies that put them at risk.

If you’re a survivor, we provide a safe path toward healing—one rooted in truth, community, and hope.

You don’t have to accept the culture’s programming. You can choose something better. And we’re here to walk with you every step of the way.