What is Happening to Our Children?

Our local schools have had a rash of bomb scares and threatening calls over the past few weeks. This is not what you ordinarily experience in a small backwoods community in northern Minnesota, and it not only closed the schools several times but also raised apprehension in the locals. Today I saw a in a local newspaper that the culprit had been arrested: a twelve-year old boy who will now have a criminal record to live with for the rest of his life. I thought immediately: What has happened to our children?

Of course, we are shocked. Nay, we are outraged that a boy this young would think of doing such a thing. But should we be? Are not the papers filled every week with news reports of teens and pre-teens committing petty crimes, doing drugs (an online paper tonight had an article about a toddler and his five year old brother smoking marijuana given to them by...their teenage uncle!) and even committing violent crimes? Do all these children come from neglected homes? Indeed not! Then what is the influence common to all that perverts their sense of right and wrong? What is destroying our children?!

Children are great mimics and what they see as acceptable behavior, or what appears “cool” to them, they are likely to do. That gives pause for thought, because what are children filling their minds with these days but violence and crime? They absorb it from the endless hours of television they watch, wherein every sort of vice and depravity is blatantly portrayed as being normal and entertaining. They absorb it from the computer games they play, many of which make the violence on television appear tame by comparison. They absorb it from the music they listen to, the lyrics of which are filled with blasphemy, cursing, sex and violence. How can we expect these children to know right from wrong when we allow them to bombard themselves with such depravity as “recreation”?

This is where an opinionated blogger begins to skate on thin ice. You see, it is the responsibility of parents to see that their children are protected from evil influences, and today’s parents, by and large, are not doing so. It is so much easier to give little Johnny what he is begging for, and computer games, television and rock CD’s keep him out of mom and dad’s hair. After all, these things can’t be so bad…right? WRONG. The eyes are the windows of the soul and what we view regularly we become. The ears have a direct line of contact with the brain, and what we hear regularly we retain in our subconscious. Depravity fed to children through their eyes and ears will make depraved children.

So what is the solution? Simple: throw out the TV, the computer games and the rock music, and have a family life together. Sure it’s hard at first, but well worth the effort; not only for the entire family but especially for the children who will grow up in a wholesome atmosphere which will allow them to develop their personalities and character. Parents, do you love your children? Then do what is best for them even when it means making a sacrifice! You won’t regret it, and when your children are older they will thank you. I know – I’ve been thanking my parents for doing the above for years now!