by 
Who is ultimately responsible for the children in a given area:
- The Government
- The Village
- The Parents
- The children themselves
It seems that although only one of these answers is correct (although each play a part), each one of these pieces try to take on that role. And the sad part is, the parents begin to believe it.
Jenna hit this on the head in a comment this past month when she said:
This is one of the reasons why my husband and I started to originally consider homeschooling. We looked at how we were pressured to be a certain way, or ridiculed for who were were- and we wanted better for our daughter. Of course, we can’t protect her from everything, but it sure sounds nice to buy her some time to develop who she is, and an understanding of how God views her, before she has to deal with ’round the clock peer pressure.
I don’t know. *sigh* When I was in school, there were scuffles. Still, girls didn’t gang up on one girl and beat her like that. I understand that there is peer pressure, but where are the parents? Something is really wrong if some girls can so viciously attack another girl, and then take pride in it. I can’t just blame it on peer pressure, because there are plenty of people who show themselves to be above such influences. I think it has more to do with what kind of person that teenager is being raised up to be, and a parent should be the main influence in a young person’s life- not their friends. It just strikes me that this is a little deeper than “my friends made me do it”.
To the point, the parents were responsible in this situation. They were the ones that should have been the influence. They were the ones who should be taking the lead here and figuring out what happened so as to make sure it doesn’t happen again.
And yet, the parents believed that the school had the best interests of their child at heart. Parents today, in general, have given up being the sole responsible party in many ways. They choose to work while children are out of school. They choose not to monitor their friends and their online conversations closely. And then they wonder why their children get into trouble.
We need parents, like Jenna, that want to be involved in their children’s lives if we are going to have an impact in our world. If you are one, terrific! I pray that your children recognize how great a gift they have. If you know one, give them some encouragement– it’s a lot of work! If you know someone that needs to be more involved, come along side and help them– they may not know what they’re missing.
