What a time to be raising children…
The World is really scary these days… right?
The World is much more dangerous… Right?
The World is so uncertain… Right?
There is no respect for human life….
Children are not what they used to be… and education is down the toilet…
Yet Solomon said…
Ecclesiastes 1:9
What has been will be again, what has been done will be done again; there is nothing new under the sun
Nothing new under the sun…???? The Bible is wrong… surely… The World has changed…
On the surface yes… There are new fangled devices and ‘different’ threats… But we need to see that …essentially … when it comes to the important stuff… not much has changed…
Was it not in just Genesis Chapter 4 that Cain killed his brother out of jealousy?
Was it not in Genesis 6… the time of Noah …when man rejected God …and we read that the last days will be like the times of Noah… Nothing new under the sun…
The World is going through an unsettled time for sure and the comings and goings are changing the World quickly into something we don’t recognise, but essentially we are still dealing with the same human traits…
… the hearts desire to serve ‘self’ instead of God…
Of course there are very direct threats to our way of life…
but these things are less important than man’s desire to either bring glory to himself or to glorify God… and this tussle is no easier or more difficult…
The most important thing is still, to have faith in God… i don’t believe it is more difficult than in the past…
if we can somehow influence our children to have faith… to live for His glory… this is the ultimate goal… this has always been the aim… this is an eternal matter…
With that said and with this in mind… There are some opportunities and threats to our children which are perhaps unique to this generation… to our children and grandchildren… things that will affect their success, their happiness and their purpose in life…
There are massive opportunity in education … it is an exciting place…
The threat of machines… we were separated…by our intellect… now AI… what now?
They will not find employment if they are just ‘well schooled’ and ‘booksmart’… I know it is tempting to be proud of great reports and high marks… but this means less and less in the real world…
The only way to survive AI is to be more human… God has given us special gifts which cannot be replicated by machines…
What they must learn… are things like…
- Creativity
- Communication
- Conflict resolution
- Critical thinking
- Negotiation
- Collaboration
- Empathy
- Decision making
- Motivation
- Leadership
- Resilience
Everything else will be done by machines…
They will be/are worse than us… Because of the lack of human interaction… devices
They don’t learn these things from books…
Unless and even if the school they are at values these things and actively exposes them to opportunities to learn like… sport, drama, music, group work…special classes and programmes teaching ‘soft skills’. They will be weaker than us… Ironically the best preparation for the digital age is to be more human…
As parents, uncles or grandparents we have to
Talk…
Tell stories about your past…
Play games…
Argue…
Develop a relationship… spend time
Hold them accountable in the small things… games etc.
Get them off their phones… or at least get them to help you with your phone…
Read with them…
We have an opportunity to get our children ahead of the pack… and this is the area to do it…
There are also unique threats to this age of children, some you can help with and others just need to be acknowledged…
I have no doubt that the greatest physical threat to our children… is the phone…
They will be exposed to a World outside of your home …a world outside of our control… Attitudes and views not compatible with your values… You tube and Instagram are raising our kids…. It is so difficult to control..
It isn’t just vile content, it’s attitudes towards people, towards money, towards fame, a dumbing down of a sense of humour…
- Short advice… for parents… not that I always get this right…
- Give them phones as late as possible… at least 13…
- Then …the phone does not belong to them…
- It belongs to the parent… I, the parent, control the content, the amount of time used and the down time through an app like Family link… the parent has complete rights to view all communication on the phone…
- You tube can be consumed on the family TV in the lounge…
- The greatest threat of the phone… is that it consumes time… Hours are whiled away with nothing useful being achieved… Mindless… Purposeless time wasting…
Outside of the phone (yet phones give them access to this) there are two great threats which can destroy our children’s potential and strip their souls…
Both are connected to pervasive Marxist philosophies… Sound overly dramatic?…
You might recognise the term ‘Marxist’ with regards to financial contexts like socialism and communism which were threats when you and I grew up…
Marxism though calls for the collapse of all institutions so that they can be rebuilt … it upset Marx that the human, a creative being, is born into a World already created in set structures… there is no room for change… unless we start again… the World must be re-imagined in the image of ??? man?
Thousands of years of collated wisdom is being discarded for some new idea which will be debunked tomorrow…
Modern Marxism attacks capitalism, of course, but also all authority structures, police, families, religion, gender, relationships, free speech… those things that give our society structure…
“The first battle ground is to rewrite history to be unburdened by what was” Karl Marx
Do you recognise that quote?
"I can imagine what will be, unburdened by what was (has been) - Kamala Harris
The most important of these structures under attack is the family, why?
Our society, …(God’s plan) is built on the nuclear family…
How do you attack the nuclear family?....
Promote abortion…
Attack marriage…
Promote gender ideology…
Attack the roles of men and women in the world and in their families.
Attack child birth and the importance of being a parent…
Teach women that they are only worthy if they have a successful career…
Create fear about over population…
It seems to me that your girls are most affected by attacks on gender and the family … especially in Girls’ high schools… While your child might not be directly affected, the constant conversation destroys the concept of the family.
Traditional relationships move from the idea of marrying the man of my dreams so that I can have a family, to relationships being convenient and completely self serving… Whatever suits me… whatever is convenient…
Girls are doubly affected… because the average man is more than willing not to commit and rather have relationships of convenience… There is no pressure from society to get married… to be responsible for children…
Secondly… For our boys… it is an attack on the role of men as leaders, those who must take responsibility, those who provide and protect… ‘Toxic’ masculinity is frowned upon… the ideas that men must be tough, powerful and brave are not acceptable…
The effect of this attack is that more fathers are not fulfilling their responsibility… The vast majority of our issues at schools are the result of weak father figures…
Where mothers are supposed to coddle… they are supposed to nurture and hold close, a father has an additional role and this is to prepare the child for the big World… To scaffold the real World…
they are responsible to teach appropriate social behavior…
They teach emotional regulation (otherwise you get an increase in anxiety, fear).
They teach resilience…
They grow self esteem…
More fathers… good people… Are not taking up this role…
I love you my child, but you can do better…
I love you my child, but you are wrong, there are consequences…
I love you my child, but the World is not fair… Accept this early on… or sadness…
I love you no matter what, but the World will reject you if you present yourself like that…
I love you, but you need to get back up and go out again…
You have a responsibility… like it or not you need to fulfill that responsibility…
They are laughing at my haircut… well then let's have a normal haircut…
I expect you to contribute to our family and our community… this is not all about you…
The most immediate and observable result we see is a lack of self esteem in our children… they don’t know their value… their potential or their purpose…
How do we protect our children?
I mentioned Cain earlier… it is true that all the important stuff is laid out in the first few chapters of Genesis…
In the beginning… God created man and woman, he created them… that a man would leave his father and mother and be united to his wife…
This is the truth… We have to teach our children that truth exists and that it is found in God’s Word…
Aayan Hirsi, (a famous atheist turned Christian) says that to believe is a choice. (faith)
When she was an atheist… She chose not to believe and belief in God seemed ridiculously foolish… She traveled the World giving talks on atheism… When she ultimately, through personal circumstances turned and came to believe suddenly it all made sense…
We choose to believe in God and then we will see the truth. The world will make complete sense. Everything will fall into place… or… We choose not to believe in God and it is all foolishness…
1 Corinthians 1:18 For the message of the cross is foolishness to those who are perishing, but to us who are being saved it is the power of God.
We can argue with the unbelievers until we are blue in the face, but it is and always has been a choice…
Our children will have to choose…
it is tough to teach God’s word to one who does not want to listen, …but when they have chosen the truth it is our job to lay it out clearly… God’s truth will give them power to negotiate the world… It will protect them…
Back in the day it was difficult to see the difference between a genuine follower of Christ and the nominal church goer… now it is obvious as our lifestyles are so different…
Perhaps in a way it easier these days, to show our children the difference between a life in Christ and a life lived by the values of the World… just the other day a grandchild I know said to their parents… I want to be like grandpa and granny… what a blessing… they see the difference…
Truth exists and it is more important than feelings…
As a parent first and someone who works with children every day… I believe there are a few thoughts, strategies and ideas we can employ to empower and grow our children… and they are definitely things which we can pass on…
- Every Human is equally valuable… We have intrinsic value because God made us. This needs to be drummed into our children… No matter what you achieve or don’t achieve, you are no more or less valuable than the next person… this is easy to teach when they are struggling, but much more powerful when they are on top… this achievement does not make you more valuable than anyone else…
- Connected to this. You are God’s child. Your Father is the creator of the World.
- Confidence is acquired through competence not praise alone. Competence does not need to be dramatic. Competence in small things. Making the bed, washing up, hitting a ball, helping an adult. Acknowledgement for the completion of small tasks. These build self esteem.
- Connected to this… our purpose for getting good at things is so that we can fulfill our potential…
- Finally. God declares that he has a purpose for us. “I know the plans I have for you says the Lord” “He who started a work in you will carry it on to completion”
This does not just of course apply to children; these things are equally important for us…
