A Leelanau County school is in the national spotlight, thanks to an article in the Washington Post about a mother and son whose relationship has been strained by political disagreement. The story, titled “School turned him liberal. His mom loves Fox News. Will their bond survive?” was penned by journalist Hannah Natanson, who earlier this year sent a questionnaire to students across the country “asking whether and how their views changed because of something they learned in school.”

“From nearly 200 submissions, she selected Mike Lindgren, who wrote that he developed left-leaning views in high school, leading to tension with his conservative mother, Jennifer,” the article states. “With the Lindgrens’ permission, Natanson spent half a year following the pair, checking in by phone, over Zoom and through an in-person visit.”

The Lindgren family hails from the Chicago area, but Jennifer enrolled Mike at the Leelanau School after seeing his ninth grade report card – “a slew of C’s, D’s and F’s,” Nateson writes. “She knew Mike was smart, and she was sure he could do better. Her distractible son just needed a different way to learn. More one-on-one attention. Lessons that required him to use his whole body, not just his brain. She and Mike’s father — who are divorced — sought help from a Chicago-based education consultant, who evaluated Mike and recommended the Leelanau School, which offers “kinesthetic, visual, and verbal learning” that engages “all your senses,” per the school website.”

The article goes on to reckon with the concept of political indoctrination, on both sides. Mike, who was raised conservative in a household dominated by a “diet of Fox News, Trump speeches and Alex Jones” started to change his mind about political and social issues while attending the Leelanau School. That change in views strained Mike’s relationship with his mother, sparking arguments between the pair about Trump, COVID-19, George Floyd, and more. Jennifer came to believe her son had been “indoctrinated” by his time at the Leelanau School. Mike, meanwhile, feels that his upbringing in a conservative echo chamber was the true indoctrination, and that his time in school was “counter-indoctrination” because “it showed him there was more than one way to see things.”

The story ultimately sees Mike and Jennifer finding some common ground and agreeing to be more open-minded to one another’s views. As for the accusations of indoctrination at the Leelanau School, no representatives from the boarding school commented for the article – though Mike and a classmate both pushed back against the claims.

“Both Mike and [his suitemate] Jack said they guessed most Leelanau teachers were liberal based on the ways they decorated their classrooms or occasional comments they dropped in casual conversations,” Nateson notes. “Still, both emphasized, they never received explicitly political education at Leelanau. Instead, educators canvassed left- and right-wing arguments in class, making sure students understood both sides.”

The full story can be read here.