Marybeth Hicks

HICKS: Only in California? Don’t bet on it

I recently heard the first radio ad of the season for school supplies, so it won't be long before the bell rings and America's children file back into the classroom for another year.

July 26, 2011

HICKS: Public school systems cheating nation’s youth

Benjamin Franklin said, "Sin is not hurtful because it is forbidden, it is forbidden because it is hurtful."

July 12, 2011

HICKS: Storm clouds ahead for more than 1 child

In May, a Toronto couple made international news when they revealed what they're not revealing: the gender of their baby, Storm.

July 5, 2011

HICKS: Agenda behind botched pledge still a mystery

Earlier this month, NBC reminded us of the power of good television.

June 28, 2011

HICKS: Spanking hits bottom line in parenting debate

For years, I have arduously avoided the one topic that most certainly will incite a reader riot. However, I find I can stay silent no longer.

June 21, 2011

HICKS: If Weiner’s sick, so too is much of the nation

It must be said: Rep. Anthony D. Weiner is what's wrong with America today.

June 14, 2011

HICKS: California bill respects authority of parents

I have to confess my initial reaction to the headline was to roll my eyes in contempt for yet another government entity that I assumed was trying to legislate good parenting. After all, it's a trend that has gained traction of late.

May 17, 2011

HICKS: Prince Charles feeding hogwash to the world

You hardly could blame Prince Charles for the raspy voice with which he lectured the students of Georgetown University last week, what with his speech on sustainable food coming just five days after the multimillion-dollar wedding of his son, Prince William, to the charming commoner Kate Middleton.

May 10, 2011

HICKS: 9/11 became a primer on virtue and values

Like every other American, I remember with crystal clarity where I was and what I was doing the

May 3, 2011

HICKS: Chipping away again at bearings of America

It's a minor issue, really, but when you think about it, the decay of a nation happens a little at a time.

April 26, 2011

HICKS: Video games and bullying

Parents, see what games are in your child's Xbox or PS3 and ask yourself whether the content of those games reflects the values you want to instill in your child's heart.

April 19, 2011

HICKS: Menu is mandated at the Nanny Cafe

It's not the role of a public school principal to decree what her students may and may not eat. In fact, even the less-stringent policies convey a growing and disturbing trend among educators and others toward meddling in parents' decisions.

April 12, 2011

HICKS: Lax parenting is something to regret

Perhaps 2011 will go down as the "Year of the Brutally Honest Parenting Debate."

April 5, 2011

HICKS: Don’t let digital media crowd out prayer time

It would be so much easier to pray if God would get a Twitter account. Or at least a Facebook page.

March 29, 2011

HICKS: ‘Human Footprint’ gives capitalism the boot

The purpose of "Human Footprint" isn't just to create awareness of consumption. Its true aim is to convict Americans of the social sin of living in an affluent nation.

March 22, 2011

HICKS: Good advice, but unpopular

If the free advice peddled in today's media is any indication, my perception of the decline of our civilization is more than just a vague sense of longing for some idealized "good old days." We're in big trouble.

March 15, 2011

HICKS: Out from under a phony union

Last week, while Wisconsin's 14 renegade Democratic state senators continued to wash their socks and underwear in a hotel sink in a "principled" standoff to avoid voting on Gov. Scott Walker's public union reform agenda, and as similar legislative efforts unfolded in Ohio and Indiana, there was a quiet but seismic victory for working people in my home state of Michigan.

March 8, 2011

HICKS: Movie too real for Hollywood

Filed under "Typical Media Bias Against Religion," the theatrical release last week of the cop drama "The Grace Card" garnered this one-line summary on the movie site Screenit.com: WILL KIDS WANT TO SEE IT?

March 1, 2011

HICKS: Nanny state’s best judgment?

Inserting state regulators into decisions about baby sitters is simply the manifestation of a doctrine that asserts that the state has a greater interest than parents in the welfare of its young citizens. That notion is not just insulting; it's nuts.

February 22, 2011

HICKS: Achy regrets of a broken family

I told you so, Billy Ray Cyrus, but you wouldn't listen.

February 15, 2011