What Are We Teaching The Children?

Matthew 18:6
But if anyone causes one of these little ones who believe in me to sin, it would be better for him to have a large millstone hung around his neck and to be drowned in the depths of the sea.

So, on a forum where I spend far too much of my time, various parents are debating various 'social networking' websites in various contexts. Now, neither of my kids have-or even desire-one of these personal pages. But the thing that bothers me the most is many of these parents helping their children to defraud the owners of these websites. The parents sign in, agree to the terms of service, and then hand the page over to their kids...who are explicitly not allowed to use them according to the terms of service which the parents agreed to. But the parents say, 'All their friends have them!' Well, I don't know about you, but when I was a kid, mothers told their kids, 'I am not your friends' mother, and besides, if your friends jumped off a bridge, would you jump off it, too?'

Now I guess cool moms help their kids lie and defraud so they can be just like their friends! What does this teach the kids? And why on earth would we think that, after teaching kids to lie, they are going to tell us the truth? Hey, everyone, the truth matters!

Brandon has a new friend. She's a nice girl, from what I can tell, and they enjoy each others' company. He has invited her to various things, usually youth group activities or whatnot, but she can never go. Today I found out why: Her parents decided that their children should be raised without religion, so that they can make the choice for themselves when the are grown. I can tell you what choice they will make!

The childhood years are the years of formation. What you teach a child is still ingrained in the adult. Even when an adult recognizes harmful thinking or behaviors, it can take years to overcome, and that is with hard work. Left alone they will continue on the path their parents set them on. And children learn by example, as the saying goes.

I am by no means a perfect parent. I may not even be a great one. I hope I am improving, but most of all, I hope I am instilling, by example, ethics that will carry on through my kids' lives.