by Rebecca Hagelin’s article today encompasses the next step in the life of a child— their relationship with their parents and the culture that continually tries to influence them. Starting with the discussion of the 8 year old girl that this week was found in a dumpster after a 17 year old abused, used and left her for dead, she blames culture and lack of solid parenting for this problem.
I tend to think there’s a further problem– the erosion of a core set of absolute values. In the current culture, we are constantly told that there’s nothing that is wrong if it is not wrong to you. We live in a permissive society. Anything goes except for Christian morals– we can’t have you being taught those.
I see it in the fact that my family, first for monetary reasons, stopped getting cable TV. I found that I could always find something on to watch– though because it was not something planned, it may not live up to my standards. Now, being almost a year without tv coming into the house, I found that I’m not missing the commercials, and other side effects from TV. I do have DVDs of some old favorite shows. I’ve almost finished the first season of Greatest American Hero. But DVDs and tapes have a few distinct advantages:
- No commercials
- You can watch an episode or multiples at any time (up with sick kids!) and not have to plan your schedule around the tube.
- You control what shows you get, and you never miss an episode!
Seriously– we need to be better parents, and realize that the world is working against us. This from Hagelin:
The good news is that American parents are becoming increasingly disturbed by a pop culture that glorifies gratuitous sex, senseless violence, incivility, broken families and narcissism. In the 100-plus interviews I’ve done since my book launched in mid-April, the calls and e-mails I’ve received from parents reflect a universal concern over the future of our children.
The bad news is that far too many parents still don’t realize that the first step in protecting our children’s innocence and lives is for us to step up to the plate and truly parent.
