I have been against parents being held responsible for the actions of their children for a very long time. I'm starting to rethink that stance.
Violence in schools is just a symptom of our society. The symptom is surfacing in younger children. In my day, everyone in the Nation knew about Kent State. You didn't have to explain what happened, or who was involved, or what it was about. You just said, "Kent State," and everyone knew what you meant.
(If you don't, do an internet search on Kent State + Violence, and see what you get.)
Today, if you say Columbine High School, everyone knows what that was all about. Not so many know about Pearl High School and the other schools where shooting occured. But, we all know about youth violence. At Columbine, the authorities found video tapes and all kinds of violent-type paraphanalia that any observant parent would have asked questions about if they had cared what their kids were up to behind closed bedroom doors.
What if...
What if, the parents had said, "I do not care about your privacy. It is your safety that I am concerned about... your health, your mind, your Spiritual growth."
Do children have a right to privacy? To take a bath, yes. To surf the internet, no way! To develop fight videos, to purchase or steal guns, to draw pictures of frightening things... these are symptoms of disturbed minds and a parent has every right under God and this nation to know what their kids are up to.
If you consider what kinds of violence kids are exposed to these days from X-Box games to cop shows to forensic shows, is it any wonder that children grow up to think that it is okay to solve their problems with violence. The survival of the fittest was part of my science class, but it was also tempered with Jesus' teachings.
I have discovered that after I watch a show with violence, I have a reaction to some situations with anger or violent urgings. It may have something to do with menopause, but my thinking leans more toward the exposure to violence.
I believe that if some parents were held responsible for their children's actions... even put on trial for those actions, I believe we would see more responsible parents. It is the parents responsibility to raise their children to be responsible adults adhereing to societal norms rather than handling problems with violence. Violence as a solution is unacceptable, yet, this is exactly what more and more people are turning to in order to overcome obsticles.
I know there are some children that are so rebellious they are uncontrollable. There are ways to handle those. Where the buck actually stops is at the parents' feet and how they raise their children. If the parent lacks self-control, then that is what the child learns. It is time to put more focus on the family unit and less interest on acquiring bigger/better everything.
4 comments:
Funny, isn't it? I've been mulling over the problems with children these days, and you post on it. Not long after we both were considering the parallels of tree roots and faith.
Great minds ... right? Or something like that.
Oh, absolutely GREAT minds... how could I say anything else LOL
I totally agree, Gina. I also see a correlation between and increase in violence in the schools and taking prayer out of the schools.
Ohhhh Gina my dear sis, this just breaks my heart to be reminded and I do think parents should be held responsible for much of what happens. Back in time if your son broke a neighbor's window playing baseball in the front yard, the parent of the player was held responsible. How much more for crimes of violence, if the parents could have known their child had an issue but chose to look the other way or raised them immorally?
I am certain you have probably heard, but if the US ever passes the United Nations Convention on the Rights of a Child, it would undermine families by granting to children a list of radical “rights” which would be primarily enforced against the parents.
Here are the concerns raised by HSLDA (Home School Legal Defense Association)
These new “fundamental” rights would include “the right to privacy,” “the right to freedom of thought and association,” and the right to “freedom of expression.” Such presumptions subvert the authority of parents to exercise important responsibilities toward their children. Under the UN Convention, parental responsibility exists only in so far as parents are willing to further the independent choices of the child.
Severe Limitations Placed on the Parents’ Right to Train Their Children
Under Article 13, any attempts to prevent their children from interacting with material parents deem unacceptable is forbidden. Children are vested with a “ freedom of expression” right, which is virtually absolute. No allowance is made for parental guidance. Section 1 declares a child’s right to “seek, receive and impart information and ideas of all kinds, regardless of frontiers, either orally, in writing or in print, in the form of art, or through any other media of the child’s choice.”
In Article 14, children are guaranteed “ freedom of thought, conscience and religion.” Children have a legal right to object to all religious training. Alternatively, children may assert their right against parental objection to participate in the occult.
Article 15 declares “the right of the child to freedom of association.” Parents could be prevented from forbidding their child to associate with people deemed to be objectionable companions. Under Article 15, children could claim a “fundamental” right to join gangs, cults, and racist organizations over parental objection.
The Convention Would Entrench the Right of Teenagers to Abort Their Babies
Under Article 16, the “right to privacy” is granted to children. This UN sanctioned “privacy” would seemingly establish as the child’s right to obtain an abortion without parental notice, the right to purchase and use contraceptives, and the right to pornography in the home.
New Bureaucracies Would Be Created to Monitor Families
Article 19 mandates the creation of an intensive bureaucracy for the purpose of “identification, reporting, referral, investigation, treatment, and follow-up” of parents who, in violation of the child’s rights, treat their children negligently.
And there is so much more Gina. It makes me sick. At least right now we have the "right" to be responsible for our children even though many neglect it. Can you imagine what would happen if our US congress passed this convention???
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