A recent report indicated that our children spend 7 1/2 hours a day with digital media: cell phones, internet, gaming, TV, iPods, etc. They text, tweet, chat and blog. They talk on their phones, text and send pictures back and forth. And on the internet they not only use the video chat rooms, they have access to every sewer and cesspool in the world!
Once upon a time, parents "programed" their children with the family value system. They controlled what children saw, heard and did. They controlled what they ate and where they went. The end-product was an adult who understood, at least, even if he did not embrace the family value system.
Today, this model is seen as restrictive. We are not convinced a child can grow up balanced unless he or she is exposed to every evil, nasty, degrading and disgusting thing the world has to offer. We certainly don't want them shielded. What will happen to them when they are released into the world? They won't be prepared. The world will eat them alive!
Maybe. But consider this: is it better for a child to be desensitized to sin, or to be shielded from it so that when he encounters it, he is shocked?
Do we want our children to grow up accepting of evil or convinced they will either "get caught" or be damaged by contact with it?
I think we need to ask ourselves: "How's this new morality working out?" How's this new parenting program doing? Is it producing a better product? Every study says No! And even a casual look around would support those conclusions.
We have probably the smartest, most talented bunch of kids the world has ever seen. And, yet we can't educate them, we can't protect them and we can't give them hope. They seem hooked on sensual gratification, whether it's music, entertainment or drugs. The boys want to "party" until they're 35 years of age. Boys and girls want the fulfillment of a relationship without 'benefit of clergy.' And the girls still want babies (at some point), whether or not the fathers are around for the long haul.
Where is all this taking us? Certainly we are not improving, as a society. Our penchant for freedom and a non-judgmental social contract is driving us into distinction as a culture.
The reality is: There are only two cultures in the world: One is a godly culture the other isn't. And, even Christian parents are rejecting the godly one. Why? Because they don't want to be 'the bad guy.' Well, being the 'bad guy' is what parenting is about.
