I look at the results of today's politics as either a product of the decline of Conservative values in America, or as crooked politicians who look out for only themselves. I personally am more convinced of the decline of our Conservative values, I tend to believe in the overall good of people. It is easier for me to accept the fact that, as detrimental as most liberal ideas are towards a nation, that most ideas are done with the best of intentions.
last night when I was playing a game on Xbox Online with other people, there was a kid who believed in talking "smack", for older people that means being extremely disrespectful and usually derogatory. There was also another guy who I was playing with that is 36 years old, Texas A&M grad. This kid who was talking all this smack got me and the other guy discussing the decline of parental responsability in America. How could parents let this kid have a TV in his room, connected to the internet and allow him to cuss at adults? How do parents justify letting this kind of behavior go on in their house? Me and the other guy discussed the equivalent of what that would be like if we did that when we were growing up. Could you imagine playing a game of two-hand touch football with 26-27 year olds when you were only 16, then cuss at them and call them derogatory names when they did better then you? NO! You pull something like that when I was growing up, you were likely to get your butt kicked.
Where are the parents today? Do they take responsability for thier kids? Can they justify the complete lack of supervision in their lives? This is why I am against more regulations on movies, games, the internet, etc. These parents NEED to take their kids back from the world they have abandoned them to. I will never put my kids in theses situations, never.
I think sometimes it is not the kids fault but the parents fault. Some parents now a days want to be friends with their kids and fit in too their lifestyle. Which is not how it is suppose to be but it does happen. And there are other parents who won't change their lifestyle, but they don't want their kids to do the same thing, but at the same time don't want to tell them no, for fear of looking like a hypocrite. And then their are parents who simply don't care. I think it is sad, and I hope their are some kids who can look at their parents and tell themselves that they never want to be like their parents and change.
ReplyDeleteJarred,
ReplyDeleteI think I would take this a step further. I think that the Video Games, TVs, computers, etc. finding their way into kid's rooms; and kids getting carte blanch access is a symptom of a much larger and farther reaching problem. The lack of supervision for most (not all) is a symptom of the same problem: Parents that are not in the business of parenting. (This may offend some, but so be it) The breakdown of the Standard family dynamic is the culprit. This breakdown can be traced primarily to the Feminist movement of the 50's, 60's, and 70's. (I'll come back to this in a moment) Households that require two incomes to support their lifestyle are living beyond their means. When both parents work full time, energy and focus that should be spent on the kids is taken away from them. When both parents work full time, it takes time, energy and focus away from the spouse. When both parents work full time, they are often too "exhausted" to go to church regularly; they want their "down time". These factors lead to a breakdown in the fundamental structure of the family unit. Parents are too exhausted to do the business of parenting after their "real world" job.
Now, how is it that Feminists caused this? Simply and insidiously. They twisted the meaning of "Equality" to mean something that it does not. Don't misunderstand me: I view women as my equals in terms of the value that they bring to the table. But the idea that just because two things are of equal value, they must be the same, and do the same things, and perform the same functions, and produce the same results is ridiculous. If I have a $5,000.00 car and a $5,000.00 hot tub, they are equally valuable, but do completely different things. Equality is not “Sameness”.
What’s really sad is that by twisting that meaning and propagating the myth that in order to have value, a woman must do all the same things a man can do, the feminist movement actually denigrates women and diminishes their value. They denigrate women by insinuating that their natural role and what they already bring to the table simply “isn’t good enough”. They devalue women by trying to shoehorn women into roles they were not meant for, who subsequently perform at a deficit to men, all the while neglecting the functions and roles for which they are meant, thus netting a product of lesser value.
In a family when both parents are working outside of the house, the balance of the family dynamic is thrown WAY off. This contributes to low church attendance, high divorce rates, teen delinquency, lack of parental supervision, etc.
I’ll grant that there are some generalizations in my rant, but overall, I think you’ll agree.
:)
Letting your kid have a TV and Xbox isn't bad parenting. Your child not knowing the balance between playing games, getting outside, finishing school work and being a well rounded and well behaved kid IS. There are many distractions in this world such as TV and the internet. Children need to be raised to balance everything out. The internet is just as much of a tool as it is a distraction. Use it the wrong way and it can suck the life out of you. Use it the right way and it could lead you into a well paying and career.
ReplyDeleteNick,
ReplyDeleteNo doubt that technology has its good uses. You are right that balance is the key. The point here, at least as I read it, was not the electronics themselves but the lack of parental control over the situation, which, in my view is endemic of the larger problem.
In response to the original, Jarred . . .
ReplyDeleteYou have to have something for the kid to do with extra time or satan will be tickled to death to provide it. It's about reading, and baking and spending time with the kids that means so much more than any video game on the market. When you guys were little, remember the thing you got for your birthay? Your choice of cake, your choice of dinner, your choice of game etc. . .it was all about giving you the gift of our attention. Parents will not take the time anymore.
And don't think satan ain't watching.