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Raising Kids Big Job

         It must be tougher than ever to raise kids in an ideologically screwed up world. If you are actively engaged with your own children, you want to influence their beliefs and mindsets. But there are all those other influences bombarding them daily.

         First, there is TV, cartoons, movies, and books, telling your child about families, religion, love, and interactions. You have some control over the books in your home, a little over the media, if you actively screen it first. But you can't control what's done in preschool or the babysitter or their friends' homes. There is a lot of doctrine in the media; some of it is at odds with your own beliefs.

         If they are old enough to go to school, you can't control what the teacher tells them. Maybe the teacher can leave his or her political beliefs at home, but frequently they cannot. They bring their ideas into the classroom, don't present them as options, but as the truth. You may not want to have your 8 year old being a little Democrat or Republican, but they are going to get some indoctrination you may not want them to have, and may not be aware of it.

         Some teachers feel they have to teach right and wrong, and moral values, which is the parents' duty. Unless you send them to a religious school, doctrine for Islam, Hinduism, or any other religion should not come up. Period. It is the duty of the mosque, temple, synagogue or church to support the family in religious education, not the school.

         Other examples include family preferences and gender identity, which is a hot topic right now. Tax payer money is being slated for these subjects, but who is qualified to lead those discussions? I wouldn't want my kids to go through those. 

         TV, movies, the Internet all give impressionable kids wrong ideas about lifestyle. Parents have to be on guard to weed out the values they don't want their kids to have. They have to be fiercer than ever to protect their kids' minds until they are old enough to think for themselves. And that varies according to the individual. At the same time, they need to let their kids grow up and be independent as they are able to handle it. Being a good parent has to be a really tough job.