Charlie Kirk's Advice to a 13-Year-Old Homeschooler on Becoming an Informed Citizen and Courageous Adult

A Young Homeschooler's Quest for Understanding

Grace, a 13-year-old who has been homeschooled since kindergarten, approached Charlie Kirk with a question many young Americans grapple with: how can she become a more informed and involved citizen as she moves into adulthood? She explained that politics can be difficult to fully understand, but Kirk's way of presenting ideas makes concepts easier to grasp. Grace and her younger sister have been watching the online Hillsdale College course on the Constitution, which they've been enjoying.

The Foundation: Learning and Character

Kirk begins his response by thanking Grace for being present and expressing hope because of young people like her. He offers several foundational pieces of advice for her journey into adulthood. First, he encourages her to learn something new every single day. But knowledge alone isn't enough—Kirk emphasizes that she must focus on what it means to be a good person and a person of strong character.

America's Courage Crisis

Kirk identifies what he sees as the core problem facing America today: a courage crisis. He explains that moral courage is the most necessary yet absent characteristic in the country right now. This isn't just his observation—he points to historical and philosophical support for this claim. Kirk quotes George S. Patton, who said that moral courage is the most necessary yet absent characteristic in men.

Courage as the Ultimate Virtue

Drawing on the wisdom Grace will encounter in her Hillsdale courses, Kirk references Aristotle's teaching that courage is the ultimate virtue because without it, there are no other virtues. He asks Grace to think deeply about this concept: if people aren't courageous, you don't have honesty, you don't have justice, you don't have anything else. You don't have beauty, you don't have wonder—none of it exists if people don't have the courage to act.

A Commitment to Courageous Living

Kirk challenges Grace at this pivotal age to commit herself to a life of courage. He defines what courage means in practical terms:

• Courage is doing the right thing when you don't know how it's going to work out
• Courage is committing yourself to the correct course of action regardless of the cost associated with it

These aren't abstract concepts but concrete principles for daily living that will shape the kind of citizen Grace becomes.

Hope in the Homeschooling Generation

Kirk expresses genuine hope stemming from the rising number of young homeschooling children in America. He sees Grace as part of a larger movement that will transform the country. When people ask him what success looks like, Kirk paints a vivid picture: a New York Times headline in 2050 reading "America's Sudden, Shocking, and Inexplicable Right Turn Can Be Traced Back to Homeschooling Explosion During COVID-19."

That vision of success—a generation of informed, courageous citizens educated at home—represents Kirk's ultimate answer to Grace's question. Becoming an informed and involved citizen isn't just about consuming information or taking courses, though those are important. It's about developing the moral courage to act on convictions, to stand for what's right regardless of social pressure or cost, and to be part of a generation that refuses to compromise on truth and virtue.