Parents: Are You Paying Attention to What Your Children are Being Taught?
In a June 26, 2023, article in the New York Post, Bruce Bawer, a proponent of gay rights, bemoaned the damage the woke movement has done. He wrote,
At New York’s annual Drag March on Friday, activists chanted “we’re here, we’re queer, we’re coming for your children.”
It’s shocking. But not new. In recent years, such blunt, outrageous rhetoric from the gay left has become pretty familiar.
Two years ago, the San Francisco Gay Men’s Chorus released a YouTube video in which 81 of its members sang a song with the refrain: “We’ll convert your children / Happens bit by bit. / Quietly and subtly. / You will barely notice it.”
This is not a joke. It is real. It is happening right now. It is happening with your children. Recently a church member called me greatly concerned. His young grandchild was featured in a photograph on the social media of the child’s daycare center. The four-year-old was wearing a pink dress and high heels. It was clear that this daycare’s leadership was using a four-year-old to join in the celebration of Pride Month. Train up a child in the way he should go,
And when he is old he will not depart from it. (Proverbs 22:6)
This verse cuts both ways. The basic idea is that childhood teaching, or the lack thereof, has lifetime implications.
And you, fathers, do not provoke your children to wrath, but bring them up in the training and admonition of the Lord. (Ephesians 6:4)
Parents, this is your task, it cannot be delegated to another.
You not only have a responsibility to teach your children the truth, you must also know what they are being taught. You cannot claim ignorance. This is a huge task and, in this information-inundated world, you will have moments of failure. But our present circumstances require more vigilance than ever before.
Who is teaching your children in school and what are they being taught?
One of the great revelations of the Covid-19 epidemic for many parents was the revelation of the curriculum and dysfunction that their children had already been experiencing in the classroom at school. Online education coupled with parents working from home gave mom and dad a peek into what their children were doing during the day. For many, it was horrifying. Do not be fooled. It is rare for a parent to counteract at home what his child is being taught at school. This is especially true for any child who has any propensity toward childhood or teenage rebellion, or children with difficulty in social coping issues like autism.
Who is teaching your children at church and what are they being taught?
Lots of very conservative parents are worshipping in leftward-sliding churches. Do you know what is being taught in church youth groups or Sunday School as biblical fact? Not all churches deserve your trust, and no church deserves implicit trust without confirmation. People keep attending bad churches out of a sense of family loyalty, worship attraction, or just laziness. It is not worth it. It is just as important to remove your children from a church that teaches error as it is to remove your children from a school that does. Again, you are responsible for the spiritual, emotional, academic, and social upbringing of your children.
Who are your child’s friends and how are your children being influenced?
About a decade ago I took a survey at a teen camp (7-12th grade) asking kids to rank the most important things in their life to them. The top slot did not belong to God, Mom, or Dad. The most important thing in the lives of these Christian teen kids who grew up in Christian homes was “my friends.”
While the choice they made was itself problematic, it also shows just how influential friends are to your kids. These include the friends you know and the ones you don’t—in person and online. You have a right to influence, even control, the influences upon your children. Start this young. It is hard, almost impossible, to implement once embedded friendships are established. Work hard to develop good relationships with quality families and put out lots of effort to create friendship opportunities for your children with the right kinds of friends.
Then develop an open dialogue with your children about friends and their influence. The kids might not say a lot, but they are listening, and you should too.
How are your children being influenced by entertainment?
Entertainment choices teach values. Your choices and the choices you allow your children will mold their thinking. Its not just the content of the entertainment—the luridness, moral values, violence, etc, it is also the character of the entertainers that you follow that will have influence on how they think.
How are your children being influenced by social media and online correspondence?
Kids live on their phones now. They can’t seem to live without them. It is a device that is nearly uncontrollable for parents—except to not allow them to have one. Computers and tablets at home can be monitored—with a lot of diligence and effort—but a phone with a data plan is the devil in their ear at all times and in all places. Do you really want to give Satan that kind of access to your child’s mind?
You are the parents. This is your job. It might be the most important purpose you have in all of your life.
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