they do not trust parents to instill responsibility in their children.To say that I was shocked at this pronoucement would be an understatement.
How can anyone say that they do not trust parents? While there is no question that there are plenty of irresponsible or just plain bad parents out there but to plainly state that you've given up trust in the average parent is to admit that our society is ending. If we can't trust parents, who are we going to trust? Teachers? Law makers? Television shows?
Yet that seems to be the trend. We have become increasingly dependent on mediums like television to teach our children the important lessons in life. Take, for instance, the HIV-positive puppet currently on Sesame Street in South Africa. While a lesson in tolerance and acceptance is an important one for a child, who do you want that lesson coming from? A television show or yourself? Why let a television producer teach your child life's lessons when it will be so much more meaningful coming from your mouth.
This is happening in schools too. Too often parents become defensive with educators when informed of their child's misbehavior. I have witnessed several intstances where parents side with their children against the teachers even after the most outrageous of stunts. What kind of an example does that set for the children?
I often hear parents complain about a lack of respect from their children. I would say that respect is never something you should expect, but something you should earn. You earn respect from your children by being firm with them and teaching them the right way to live their lives. You earn respect just from being involved in your child's life. When you leave your child's parenting up to a teacher or a television show you're missing an oppurtunity to earn that respect from your child. Those types of opportunities are few and far between. You can't afford to miss any of them.
Being a parent is the most important job in the entire world. Every single person on the face of this earth was influenced by his or her parents. If we want to make this world a better place we need to start with our children. We cannot shirk our parental duties onto television and teachers. Television is for entertainment and teachers are for math and history. If you want your child to be a hard worker, you have to show him or her how to do it. If you want them to be moral, you have to set the example.
With people blaming their obeisity on McDonald's and their drinking problems on Coors its clear that our country has lost its sense of responsibility. So its not surprising that many people would have us believe that we need Sesame Street to teach our children about HIV, and that we're not capable of raising responsible children. Well I reject that theory.
We can raise responsible children, and most of us do.