Spartan Profiles: Marybeth Hicks
BRINGING UP GEEKS
She is the weekly family columnist for the Washington Times and she believes it’s cool to raise GEEKs. That is—Genuine, Enthusiastic, Empowered Kids. A mother of four—including three teens—Marybeth (Brennan) Hicks, ’84, knows first-hand the societal forces that impinge on kids today, forces that sometimes encourage high risk behaviors, materialism and pseudo-adulthood.
Her new book, Bringing Up Geeks (Penguin USA/Berkley Books, 2008), is a collection of her best columns. They advocate a family system that protects innocence, regulates media and pop culture, and fosters relationships and spirituality. “Two of my columns received incredible responses—Bringing up Geeks, and How To Raise Uncool Kids,” explains Hicks, who lives in East Lansing. “Huge numbers responded basically saying how much they agreed with the concept.”
A professional writer, Marybeth began her career as a White House intern under President Ronald Reagan. She later worked for Cooley Law School, where her husband Jim currently teaches, and various companies in Connecticut and in Chicago. Eventually she took seven years off to become a fulltime mother. That was when she began writing a family column, posted on her website. In 2004 the Washington Times, a major metro daily, hired her to do the weekly column. “The Internet is a great thing, but it also indulges some of the darkest impulses of humans,” she says. “We accept it, but we need to teach our kids about media literacy.” Accordingly, she allows her children to use sites like facebook.com—under supervision.
One highlight in her book—at least for fellow Spartans—is a chapter based on Tom Izzo’s view of assembling championship basketball teams. His inside advice on how to raise a champion: “Don’t try,” Tom is quoted saying. “Instead, just instill character and then see how far they go.”
