In Holocaust survivor Corrie ten Boom’s memoir “The Hiding Place,” she recounts a conversation she had one day while riding on a train with her father. She asked him a question about sexual sin, and his wise response speaks to an enduring truth.

He turned to look at me, as he always did when answering a question, but to my surprise he said nothing. At last he stood up, lifted his traveling case off the floor and set it on the floor.

“Will you carry it off the train, Corrie?” he said.

I stood up and tugged at it. It was crammed with the watches and spare parts he had purchased that morning.

“It’s too heavy,” I said.

“Yes,” he said, “and it would be a pretty poor father who would ask his little girl to carry such a load. It’s the same way, Corrie, with knowledge. Some knowledge is too heavy for children. When you are older and stronger, you can bear it. For now you must trust me to carry it for you.”

And I was satisfied. More than satisfied—wonderfully at peace. There were answers to this and all my hard questions—for now I was content to leave them in my father’s keeping.”

This conversation is perhaps more pertinent now than ever. The Left is stripping kids of their innocence in the name of “inclusivity” and exposure to the real world. But did they ever consider that maybe kids don’t always need to be exposed to the harsh realities that adults face? Oftentimes, children are simply not equipped with the emotional or intellectual maturity to handle topics like pornography, sexuality, radical gender ideology, and other similar topics at such a young age. Despite this, however,  these are the issues being presented to them with skewed worldviews, whether it is coming from the corrupt public school system or from events like drag shows.

In some ways, conservatives are gaining ground on protecting childrens’ innocence, through wins such as new laws requiring pornography websites to verify the age of their users. These bills are taking the country by storm, with little to no disagreement between political parties. In just over one year, seven states have passed nearly identical age-verification laws, and the issue has become one of the most bipartisan policies in the nation. Why? Because at a base level, adults recognize that there are some things children shouldn’t be exposed to.

Similarly, but more controversially, children have no place at drag shows, in which grown men dress up like women, wear seductive clothing, lip sync vulgar lyrics, and perform sexual dances. There is one goal in advertising these events to minors: making kids comfortable with adult sexuality. This type of content is wholly inappropriate for young minds, and so is anything else related to adult sexuality aside from teaching children basic biology (which, shockingly, does not include the ability to alter one’s God-given gender).

It’s time for parents to stand in the gap to protect the innocence of our kids. The left is pushing radical gender ideology through curriculum and activities, and is confronting young students with graphic depictions of sexual activity. This is not informative or educational– it is damaging and predatory. Kids are not equipped to mentally process adult sexuality, and they should not be exposed to it.

So when the Left asks why conservatives want to shelter kids from the “real world,” the answer is simple: some knowledge is too heavy for children.