Former Growing Pains star Kirk Cameron has sparked a social media backlash after claiming in an interview that US public schools turn children into “little atheists, drag queens [and] strippers.”
Cameron, 53, has been famous since playing teen heartthrob Mike Seaver in the popular ABC sitcom Growing Pains from 1985 to 1992.
Since then, the actor, who is an evangelical Christian, has predominantly appeared in faith-based films including 2008’s Fireproof and 2014’s Saving Christmas .
During an appearance on Elizabeth Johnston’s podcast for an episode titled “The Radical Attack on Family Values,” Cameron argued against sending children to public schools.
“If we outsource our parenting because it’s easier or we believe the lie that we’re not qualified experts to educate our kids so we have to subcontract our parenting and discipleship out to the government, we’re gonna have little kids that come back as little Marxists, little statists, little atheists, drag queens, strippers, drug dealers, and you name it,” he said.
Cameron also claimed that libraries are “woke” and took several shots at drag queens.
The actor’s comments were met with a fierce response across social media.
One former fan wrote : “I hate Kirk Cameron just as much as teenage me loved him and that was an enormously huge amount of love.”
Another commented : “Kirk Cameron is the biggest disappointment from my childhood. And his sister is just as bad. Nobody hates more than christians nobody. Christians are some of the most anti christian people on the planet and it’s not even close.”
Another defended the public school system, saying : “Kirk Cameron is a moron. Has he ever spent any time in schools. Teachers work their fingers to the bones teaching the basics of math, English, History, sciences, they do not have the time or desire to raise his kids or anybody else’s. You teach your kids at home what you want them to know about religion, morals, manners, and life.”
Cameron married his Growing Pains co-star Chelsea Noble in 1991 and the couple have six children, four adopted and two biological. They homeschooled all of them, and in 2022 Cameron presented a documentary on the subject titled The Homeschool Awakening .
In 2020, another Growing Pains star Jeremy Miller called out Cameron for hosting maskless Christmas caroling protests in California.
Cameron and around 100 other people had gathered in a car park in Thousand Oaks, to protest governor Gavin Newsom’s order for the public to stay at home.
Miller said he “truly couldn’t be more disappointed” in his fellow actor.
“While I will always love my brother Kirk, I could not disagree more with his holding these maskless events at a time when safety and concern for others is an extreme priority,” he said.
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