parenting
Family Resource
Check out this devotional for families. I read the first chapter and it looks pretty good:
Family devotional highlights Christ in Old Testament stories.
What's the message?
So, our family has been out of the cable TV loop for about six years. Today, a few things came together and I had the chance to watch a show on Nick. While the show, clearly aimed at pre-teens, was cute, it left me wondering what message there are trying to send. The basic premise was something like this: a group of kids wanted to eat dinner at a really expensive restaurant. Being teens, they could not afford to and they devised a scheme to eat there. To get the money they defrauded their high school out of $1500 (convincing a teacher to assist them), then used the money for their extravagant dinner. Did they get caught? No, they did not. Was there any lesson about lying, fraud or theft? No, there was not. In fact, the only message that I could see was, “There are no consequences for immoral or illegal behavior.” Not exactly a message I want my kids getting.
Parents, watch your kids shows with them from time to time. Watch them critically. Ask yourself, “What lesson(s) are my kids learning from this?”
Brad Baugham on Parenting
From the Gospel Coalition:
How We View Our Children Determines How We Disciple Them – The Gospel Coalition Blog.
Whether or not your children ever profess Christ, whether or not they ever get better grades than Theo, our kids always need the same message: the hope of the gospel. That is their greatest need.
Amen.
WORLDmag.com | Community | Blog Archive | Parental blind spots
Be a Parent
Yahoo! News is reporting a study that links some traditional family behaviors with healthy kids.
Apparently eating dinner together 5+ nights per week, making your kids sleep 10.5 hours a night and limiting TV to 2 hours a day correlate to significantly lower obesity rates. It is almost like spending quantity time with your kids is more important that quality time.
The saddest part of the story?
Helmcamp said it can be hard to institute some of these behaviors. But she suggested that parents “make these behaviors a priority. Sit down and figure out how you can make it happen. Maybe your child doesn’t need to be involved in four or five different activities.”
She said if it’s tough to eat together five times a week, shoot for at least three nights a week. And, she also recommended removing TVs from children’s bedrooms, which can help with limiting screen time and with getting enough sleep.
Seriously? ‘It can be hard?’ I didn’t realize parenting was supposed to be easy. Of course it’s hard; it is supposed to be hard. How could shaping and forming the next generation of mankind be easy?
Anyway, read the whole thing.
Barna on Media Exposure, Addiction: Part III
Scary media – whether that be in the form of slasher films, episodes about demonic possession or other portrayals of the dark side and sick behavior – have become the favorite genre of the Mosaic generation. One noted result is that feelings of fear about one’s environment are reaching record levels, manifested in nightmares, judgment of other people based upon appearance or stereotypes, and changes in daily behavioral routines to avoid scary places.
Okay, one more point I want to make. This one is simple. The fascination with slasher flicks is nothing new. I can remember Friday the 13th movies, Halloween and Nightmare on Elm Street. While a part of this is simply human nature, another part of this growing fascination is a failure of parenting.
“Finally, brothers, whatever is true, whatever is honorable, whatever is just, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is commendable, if there is any excellence, if there is anything worthy of praise, think about these things,” Philippians 4:8 tells us. Yet, what are these kids consumed with? Violence, fear, pain and all the ‘sick behavior’ of horror flicks. Where they never taught that the Christian is to train their mind to meditate upon the things of God? Have they not been taught that perfect love casts out fear (1 John 4:8)? Or that we are not to fear anyone other than God (Matthew 10:28)?
So, simply put, I believe this growing fascination with horror results from 1) the de-Christianization of America and 2) Christian parents failing to disciple their children.
Media Exposure, Addiction Part II: Parenting
Two decades ago, the average child under 18 spent about 15 to 20 hours per week digesting media content. Today, it has nearly tripled to almost 60 hours per week of unduplicated time. They now devote more time to media than to anything other than sleep.
Another aspect of Barna’s post on media addiction: kids media consumption time. It seems he includes in this TV, Movies, Internet and Gaming. My question is, ‘How much of this reflects the increase in how much media we have?’ We didn’t have the internet when I was a kid. Television was new when my parents were kids, and the radio was new before that. Perhaps a part of this is simply a consequence of more media options.
At the same time, I can’t help but notice another trend. Parents who have little or no time to spend with their kids. Mom and Dad both work (for the kids, of course), so Tommy is carted off to all day preschool, before and after school care and eventually becomes what we used to call a latch-key kid.
Perhaps, then, it’s not simply how many options we have, it’s that parents don’t want to be parents-and media provides an easy babysitter. Who doesn’t know the bliss of letting the kid play Wii so that you can get some work done?
The answer, then, is simple: parents being parents. Parenting, from a Christian perspective, is discipling. We are training our kids to be men and women of faith in Christ. That takes time–a lot of time. It requires parents prioritizing how much time they spend with their kids, and making sure that time is well spent.
Family game night, with good old-fashioned board games, is a great way to connect with kids and teach them about healthy competition. Family devotions are a great way for the family to read, pray and discuss God’s Word together. Family movie night can not only be entertaining, but can provide fodder for faith building conversations.
Of course, each of these has a common denominator–parents actively and personally involved in the lives of their children.
Food For Thought
A person’s moral and spiritual foundations are pretty much determined by age 13.
Train up a child in the way he should go;
even when he is old he will not depart from it.
Proverbs 22:6
Spare the rod and spoil the child?
From FoxNews:
According to the research, children spanked up to the age of 6 were likely as teenagers to perform better at school and were more likely to carry out volunteer work and to want to go to college than their peers who had never been physically disciplined.
Read the whole thing. It sounds very Proverbs 13:24ish. While it’s only one study, what I found most intriguing is the cut-off of spanking’s benefit. Apparently after six, spanking does more harm then good.
So, when children are unable to reason and discuss their wrongdoing, swatting them seems to reinforce important life lessons. But as they grow in their ability to understand, parents need to move away from corporal punishment. In other words, discipline must be adapted to the maturity of the child. I’d add it needs to be adapted to the child. Not all children are identical, what works for one bears no fruit in another.
Study: Spanked Children May Grow Up to Be Happier, More Successful – Childrens Health – FOXNews.com.
Brandon Markette 