Sometimes it can be very difficult to try to raise Godly children in this world we live in. And frustrating. We don’t want to shelter our children, but honestly, when the the things they hear about at school, on t.v., see on the internet, etc., go so completely against what you believe it can be hard. This is one reason we got rid of the t.v. You should try it sometime. For a period of about 2 months, the kids were actually finding things to do. Alex created a window seat for the cat out of wood. Beth made beautiful craft projects and read real “Books”.
We have made it our habit to go to the library at least once a week. While it started out as a good thing, last night just really made me upset.
The kids came home with at least 10 videos. David went with them and when they got to the car, he asked what they checked out, and they told him. He was upset. I was upset. While it may not sound like a big deal to you, watching that much t.v. (0n the computer, since we don’t have the t.v.) is completely a waste of time! They were told they can now check out one video a week. The other problem with the library is the books that they have for teenagers. Now before I start sounding like I want to burn all the books, take a gander at your library’s young adult literature. Swearing is completely acceptable, teenage sex, rebelling against authority, materialism galore. I know. I have read most all of the books they select. Some of them all I have to do is read the jacket cover to know that they shouldn’t read them. Don’t get me wrong, some of the books are completely acceptable, but I would estimate at least half of them aren’t.
Some of us have grown immune to the things we see around us, in this world of ours. We watch murders, even eat popcorn while enjoying watching some woman doing questionable things with a man-or another woman. We allow our children to be subjected to seeing images on the internet we wouldn’t want our own mother to see. (I even got an Old Navy email that was full of cleavage and leg, it was close to being porn, in my opinion.) We take delight in seeing other’s problems on Oprah and then go to the grocery store, bombarded with images of Hollywood with bold letters telling us who is sleeping with who and who has a drug problem, etc.
We try to keep up with the kid’s friends at school, by buying the latest video game, the latest gaming equipment, or the latest styles. We shell out so much money for uniforms, trips, and games, so little Johny won’t feel left out. In Alex’s last year at school, in seventh grade, we spent a little under $1,000 dollars on things the choir was doing. (I don’t know how many trips/competitions they had, but it was A LOT! In seventh grade, for crying out loud!) Then we wonder why they are having sex and doing drugs. We were the ones that tried to keep up with everyone, and that happens to be what everyone is doing.
We allow them to watch shows that portray the family as a completely obsolete unit in today’s society and wonder why they don’t want to spend time with us. We allow science to tell us what “life” is and wonder why our kids don’t respect life. We allow their friends to tell them about sex, and wonder why they are sleeping around.
I, for one, want to be a parent. I want my children’s opinions about the world around them to be shaped primarily by me and my husband. Not the school, government, science, their friends, or the media. Not in an isolationist way, but in a positive, loving way. I’m not suggesting isolating my children from the world. (although, by homeschooling, some people think that, anyway.) We do plenty of other activities with other families and they do have time to play with friends and hang out. I figure that if something or someone else is spending more time with them than I am, chances are they are being influenced by the thing they are spending time with, instead of me.
Spend a little time without t.v. and then come back to it a while later. You might actually be shocked by what you see. I know I was. Or get off “my space” for a few weeks and when you get back on, you might notice that a lot of the girls on there are offering something more than friendship–just look at their pictures!
I know I sound like a ranting lunatic, but sometimes I get so tired of hearing some of the things that come out of my kid’s mouths that have been influenced by this good old world. Sometimes, though, I am delighted that they actually want to spend time with me and talk with me. What do you think?