Modern-day society apparently has no room for “Old-fashioned” ideas. There is no allowance made for rites of passage, tests of courage, or benchmarks of wisdom. Traditional institutions such as Scouting are coming under attack, and our public schools have, by legal decree and not by any Constitutional authority, abandoned all mention of God, and even banned the Pledge of Allegiance which was the ritual that all of us who grew up in the ‘50s were accustomed to. Those former traditions gave us a common bond – it made us all Americans – and no matter what our heritage and nationality was, it united us; One Nation Under God – but sadly, that, too, has been lost.
In the place of the curriculum of my day, children are being taught Ebonics as a second language, sex education in 4th and 5th grade, and that every form of discipline or affection is child abuse, along with the erroneous concept that we humans “evolved” from monkeys and apes. Our standards have been lowered to such pathetic depths, that a new concept had to be concocted to cover up the fact that a college education today, isn’t worth the parchment it is printed on. “Outcome-based” they call it. The “outcome” is a young adult who has no sense of pride, no marketable skills, no life-direction or ambition, and who at seventeen, still does not know what he or she wants to do “when they grow up”. The grade school textbooks of 100 years ago, would thoroughly baffle kids today, and I assure you, it is not for lack of intelligence; it is because of the curriculum and the philosophy of the teachers.
There is lack of motivation on the part of the students, because the subject matter – what’s left of it – and the teachers in many cases are nothing to become motivated about. Children instinctively know when something will be interesting by the way a teacher presents it. When kids become bored with school because “it’s bōōōōōrinnng”, no one dares blame the school or the teacher. No, the child has “Attention Deficit Disorder”, and if he is restless, he has that – slash – Hyper-activity disorder. Ritalin™ or other psychoactive pharmacology is prescribed. A gifted child is then condemned to sit in a drug-induced “learning trance” all day. ADD/AHDD are “diseases” that are uniquely indigenous to the United States. Also coincidentally unique, is the cottage industry of thinly-credentialed self-proclaimed “specialists” who “treat” these “disorders” – which are entirely bogus concoctions of the American Psychiatric Association. This topic is highly controversial, but only because bringing the truth out into the open, endangers a multi-billion dollar industry which is consuming the talents and squandering the gifted intellects of hundreds of thousands of American children.
Kids need to feel special. All of them are, of course, special in their own right; all are children of God, and unique human beings, but try explaining that to a ten year-old! It is better by far, to show your love and affection, and to slowly, patiently, and gently guide them into activities and pursuits that will pique their interests, keep them in the pursuit of knowledge as play, raise their self-esteem, and give them the freedom to pursue their chosen field of work. Enjoyment of one’s work makes it fun, and many people are more skilled at hobbies they enjoy than people who pursue that hobby as a profession, but doesn’t enjoy it.
A wise saying is: “When your work becomes your play, you’ll never work another day in your life”. This is not meant to imply that one should make brain surgery his hobby, only that you have a passion for your work, and that you take what you do – whatever it is – not as a gruesome, boring task to be burdened with, but as something challenging that one can take pride in, or feel a sense of accomplishment with. Children need to feel that sort of thing as they grow up.
The trend our education system is taking, will no doubt ensure its collapse, but I assure you, it will be a slow, agonizing death in which every method available short of the tried and true will be brought to bear to salvage it. Millions of children will suffer in the process. The truth of what I’m saying can be best exemplified by realizing that government intervention only exacerbates social problems. Government’s solution is to throw money at the problem. That doesn’t work, since all of the cash raised by the New York and New Jersey Lotteries never made it to the public schools, and the ads taken in newspapers and TV when the concept was first proposed, have gone by the wayside, and have somehow been erased from the memories of the public at large. The amount of money raised “for education” and subsequently diverted and squandered – who knows where? – is sufficient to have gilt the schools in gold leaf, and paid for limousines to take the students to school in style. Instead, the condition of the buildings is atrocious, books are 10 to 15 years old, and contain LIES supporting the “theory of evolution” – Things such as “Neanderthal Man”, “Piltdown Man”, and “gill slits” on human embryos – the latter proven to be a fraud over 130 years ago… and we wonder why children are loathe to go to school!
Your only recourse to properly educate your children if you do not have the financial resources to pay for a private school, is to educate the child at home, or at least supplement their schooling with your own knowledge, ideals, and beliefs. Challenge their intellect with stimulating conversation. Encourage them to watch educational Television programs; science, history, archaeology, anthropology, nature, science, space, or whatever… whatever piques their interest. You will know this if you actively participate, take an interest in his interests, and are there to answer or explore with them, the inevitable questions.
Let the children explore and be curious, and most of all, encourage them to love God and country, and instill in them the knowledge and the ability to know right from wrong – Proverbs 8:11
Screen their friends carefully, and under no circumstances allow them to become involved in the counter-culture fads of the times, be it “punk rock”, “heavy metal”, “rap”, or whatever deviate cultural aberration is to surface in the future. – Deuteronomy 8:5
The music children listen to at such a young age will also play a pivotal role in determining what type of person emerges from the experiences of youth – Lamentations 3:63 For example, modern renditions of classical and Baroque pieces by a group called Mannheim Steamroller, are indeed nourishment for the spirit. On my web site, I have collected several albums of Christian praise songs in MP-3 – done very tastefully in “pop” format, that are available free of cost for the time it takes to download them. Listened to with the heart as well as the ear, the music is indeed soothing to mind and spirit.
Exposing a child still in the womb to gentle conversation and soft music, has been scientifically proven to be beneficial to the infant and the mother, and later on, produces a more intelligent, caring, and gentle human being of that child.
One thing that is “common sense”, and something that doesn’t take a rocket scientist to figure out, is that music and the lyrics thereto, can stir a wide range of emotions, and influence attitudes and behavior. A startling contrast can be observed between groups of teens who regularly listen to Country or (traditional) Rock ‘n Roll, and those who willingly subject themselves to the sensual assault of “Gangsta’ Rap”. It has nothing to do with race, nothing to do with family history or “roots”, but instead is tied to the individual sympathizing with the attitude of the (ahem!) “singer”, and identifying himself with the deviant and criminal thinking that produced the foul-mouthed lyrics.
Oftentimes, it is peer-pressure that will bring an otherwise normal, mentally stable young man or woman into this counter-culture. Remember that once you’ve lost your children to the temptations and banal pleasures of deviant influences; once they become caught-up in the rebellious trappings of their peers, or become addicted to drugs, sex, fanatic or satanic cults, it will be exceedingly difficult if not entirely impossible to snatch them back unharmed after being impaled upon the pitchfork of the Devil.
Some of the issues discussed in my books and posted on my Web site deal with drugs, alcohol, and the psychology behind why children turn to rebellious behavior and mind-altering pharmacology, and my insight into my own addiction to Thai Stick while I was in Vietnam. I don’t claim to have all the answers, but I know I have MY answers – and perhaps those insights will be helpful to you or yours. By sharing what I know from my own experience, being honest and as descriptively cathartic as possible, I hope you gain the insight for whatever it is worth.
I don’t want to put forth the image of Doctor Spock, and claim that I’m some sort of self-styled expert for my much-speaking (or writing). I’ve been around children all of my life, and perhaps much more than many parents. The key is quality time, genuine love and affection, compassionate understanding, and love-based discipline. A good parent prays with and foe his children.
Lord, teach a child to pray,
And then accept my prayer.
For Thou canst hear the words I say,
For Thou art everywhere.
A little sparrow cannot fall
Unnoticed, Lord, by thee;
And though I am so young and small,
Thou dost take care of me.
Teach me to do the thing that’s right,
And when I sin, forgive;
And make it still my chief delight
To serve Thee while I live
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