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What are our kids doing?
Kids ages 8+ spend over 7 ½ hours/day (53+ hrs/week) using media.
3% of 8th graders report smoking daily
8% of 8th graders reported having had 5+ alcoholic beverages in a row within past 2 weeks
25% of 12th graders reported having had 5+ alcoholic beverages in a row within past 2 weeks
8% of 8th graders reported having used illegal drugs within past 30 days
22% of 12th graders reported having used illegal drugs within past 30 days
And the most gripping stat about our families is this: 20% of kids 6th-grade and up have not had a 10 minute conversation with at least one of their parents in more than a month.
There is battle going on for the family. We need to confront the enemy-complacency in parenting. In the drive through culture, we have become “drive through” parents. We are speeding through the list of things to do, see, and experience. We could use a reminder of why we do what we do, how we do it and why it matters, and what is at stake. We could use a challenge to pull the “family unit” together and complete the mission. We need some heros that show us what it means to desire to “Go above and beyond the call of duty.”
And we will need to do this together. We are in a teaching series entitled “Family Unit” on Sundays at Cedar Ridge.
So what battles do you face as a family? What stands in the way of being the Godly home you were meant to be? What would you say are the biggest battles you face as a family unit?
Please list your battle in the comments below. And return here to see other people’s battles so we can be PRAYING together for each other.
6 Comments so far
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How do we proactively create our unique family culture – vs letting activities, culture, media and school influence and mold our kids?
Comment by Terri April 28, 2010 @ 2:15 pmone of our family’s big battles is “when we get things together, then we will…” with school activities, house projects, church projects, etc-each night, we rush through the stuff to be done and then go “whew, i am glad the kids are in bed.” And we miss the regular family spiritual time together. with kids 10, 9, and 3 we know that the nature of those discussions is changing fast. and there are discussions we can have now that we may not have again. we need to seek and destroy the mentality of “when we get things together, we will..” and just do it now.
Comment by briansblahg May 1, 2010 @ 3:57 amOkay !
Comment by Dana Rieck May 2, 2010 @ 5:45 pmWhen does a mom stop the patrol of an adult child? I trust the choices she makes and she is a Christian young woman but she still lives at home. Problem : College age late nights !! Mom says its not safe to come and go as you please even if you are with GOOD people and not doing anything wrong. Dad in the trenches thinks it’s fine for our 19 year old daughter to drive to Colorado with another 19 year old young lady to a Church retreat. It will toughen her up, are you kidding. Patrol mom says it’s not safe. When and how do you transition to a parent who observes and supports without a comment on direction. When is it okay to stop reminding them to buckle up and eat their veggies. HELP
Protecting time
Comment by Phil May 3, 2010 @ 10:29 amMy biggest challenge is knowing when and what to say no to. Sports, Side work, volunteering, work, etc… It’s not the frivolous things that are hard, it’s the things that I feel I need to do. Controlling children’s sports schedules is a battle of balance. I want the kids to be involved in sports and believe it’s good in many ways for character development. However the schedules the teams require are sometimes too much in my opinion. I don’t want to and will not spend the entire day every Saturday and Sunday at sports fields. At least I say that now.
I completely agree about kids sports!I am not compelled in the least bit to spend every Sat and Sun at a sports field, when we have so many other things to do as a family and around the house. My kids aren’t in sports yet, which I’m totally okay with. I’m not going to press the issue unless the topic comes up of them wanting to play a specific sport.
Comment by Megan May 10, 2010 @ 12:45 pmWe are in a battle to maintain the purity of our children. They are exposed daily to outside influences that threaten their innocence–from commercials to billboards to magazines at the checkout. You can’t really even take your boys to the mall! There is pressure even from other parents to let our kids grow up way too fast I am really sad about some of the discussions we’ve already had to have with our 10 year old.
Comment by Laura May 3, 2010 @ 2:39 pm