If the Children are the Future, Parenting is Now!

I beleive that many parents today put too much emphasis on their children’s feelings and not enough emphasis on what’s RIGHT.  It seems that we are “raising” a generation of spoiled brats who don’t know how to deal with disappointment and not getting their way. 

I use the word “raising” loosely, because it seems that a large number of parents don’t really raise their kids.  They are more guardians than real parents.  When both parents work, and the child is taken to day care for 4-8 hours per day, who is really raising the child?  Many of these same parents then feel guilt for choosing their career goals and material well-being over their kids, so they spoil the kids with video games, the latest fashions, and expensive gifts.

This causes the kids to be ungrateful, and uncaring.  After all, how can you care about someone else when it seems nobody really cares about you?  What is happening is we have a generation of young people with really low self-images, and few social skills and abilites to handle the real world.  In many cases, these children become delinquents in an effort to get attention, attention that they are not getting at home.  In these cases,  prisons are substituting for parents.  There are articles on this growing phenomenon.

I hear about parents that have a hard time handling their unruly kids all the time.  You see examples on television shows like ‘Supernanny.’  You read about these issues in Parenting magazines and in parenting forums online.  Many parents have spent so much time trying to appease their spoiled kids, they forgot to be the parent.  The authority figure. 

Maybe they were afraid to squash their child’s enthusiasm, or oppress their true desires and feelings.  Maybe they couldn’t find the time.  Maybe they just didn’t care.  Whatever the reason, we need to raise the bar as parents and become better, more competent and responsible in raising our children.  We HAVE to, just look at where our society is collectively in terms of self-responsibility, morality, compassion and character.  We are not anywhere near where we should be, in my opinion.

The reason is parents working too much and parenting too little.  This causes fragmented families, the biggest problem our country faces.  The fragmentation of the family has far reaching effects on our economy and quality of life.  Prisons are filling up and there are so many criminals that we don’t know what to do with them all.  The solution MUST start at home, with your child.  We need to turn this trend around, or our country will not be any different than a 3rd world country, wrapped in chaos, corruption and dispair.  And it won’t take too much longer, at the rate we are currently going.

The acceptance of  lower and lower standards as normal is staggering to me.  We need to demand better of ourselves and our peers.  It starts with us, the parents.  We are in the best postition to teach our children what is right and what is wrong.  What is acceptable social behavior, and what will not be tolerated.  We must start now to make a difference in the coming years.

By promoting Dads and involved Parenting, Dadsworld.com is trying to help turn things around.  We need strong parents with leadership skills and the ability to teach our children what’s demanded of them in a civilized society.  We need to recognize the parent as one of the most important roles we ever take on. 

Parenting should be seen as a noble and powerful position, because we will affect all future generations with how we raise our own kids.  In order to be seen in this way, we have to earn it.  Just like the line in ‘Saving Private Ryan’, “Earn this.”  EARN your title as parent.  Those that do, truly have something to be proud of.  Dadsworld wants to thank all of those parents who are doing it right, and raising self-responsible, wonderful children.

I am serious when I say that the future of this country depends on us.  Take some time to evaluate what you are doing to raise your kids, and what they are learning from you.  Do your kids have unlimited access to the internet?  Do they play video games for hours every day?  Do they have television, video games, a cell phone and a computer in their room?  Is any of this a reasonable way to raise a person of value, morals and character? 

 Do you talk with your kids about value, morals and character?  Do you do constructive things together as a family?  Do you communicate well and regularly?  Do you have your children’s respect?  Do your children really know where you stand on issues?  Do you know your kids likes and dislikes?  How often do your kids read, write in a journal and just think about things?  Can your kids count on you putting your family priorities first, above all else?  How do your kids really feel about the family?  What needs do they have that are not being met?  How can you change to make your family stronger?

Take some time to think about these sorts of issues, and be honest with yourself.  Let’s do the best we can with the time we have.  Nobody is perfect, but we are expected to make measurable progress in reasonable time.  Be sure that we are making that progress and honing our edges, so to speak.  Become the shining example that inspires others to do the same, “pay it forward” as they say.

Personal Development is the key to the good life.  If you haven’t already done so, I invite you to start the journey.  We ALL will be better off in the end.

We all remember the song that said, “the children are our future.”  That’s true, but it’s time to focus on what we can really do something about!  Parents!  If the children really are the future, then the parent holds the most powerful position of influence in the world.  Take it seriously.  Help Dadsworld.com promote great parents, and get the attention of our society where it should be… RAISING GREAT KIDS!  The best way to do that is to BE the kind of parent who is worthy of looking up to.  Thank you.

Tags: career, character, day care, divorce, ethics, family, fragmented families, guilt, moral, morals, parenting, personal development, responsibility, right, self-responsibility, work