My wife seemed to touch a little bit of a nerve with some folks when she posted the following on her Facebook page...
"it's amazing to me the efforts some will go to in order to "shelter" their children from the world (ie- investing loads of money into private education vs. government schools), but will not think twice about enrolling their young daughters in say, a dance class of sorts, which plays Hannah Montana music for warm up."
This is something her and I have talked about in the past, so I thought I would take a little time and break down some of what she means.
The first topic is 'shelter.' With most Christian folks, this is a hotly debated idea. To 'shelter' your child can draw horrified looks or approving nods. Most of the negative reaction comes from those who know of friends in high school or college that were painfully sheltered... embarrassingly sheltered. They are completely naive and vulnerable when they are outside the shelter.
The key point is all parents shelter their children. The question revolves around to what point. All parents make decisions on what and when to allow their children to be exposed to certain things. Some parents let their kids watch rated-R movies at age 8 and some do not even own a TV. But the point is, even the parent who allows the R movies, is going to draw the line somewhere. It might be far beyond where I draw the line even for myself, but the line is still there. The same goes for music, clothes, language, etc... Thus, when Melissa uses the word shelter, she means it in a very positive way.
Melissa and I definitely shelter our girls. We closely monitor what they watch, what they hear and what they are in general exposed to. We both firmly believe that the world is seductive and we do not want our children worshiping things which God hates. And here lies another key point. Our sheltering now consists of us making decisions as to what the girls have access to. However, as they age a key learning point is teaching them to "love what God loves, and hate what God hates." This type of Christian parenting does not take a monk approach. It does not consist of hiding things from children thinking that if they never see it, they will not be tempted by it. Rather, this type of parenting deals with things head on...when the child is at age when she can begin make judgments and see things for what they are.
Melissa makes a good point in her Facebook post that some parents are dedicated to raising their Christian children the right way. They are aware of the messages that their children are getting hit with and they are doing something about it. But then, like a sneak attack, in through the back door comes "Hannah Montana" eroding away a foundation that the parents have worked hard to lay. Her general point and encouragement to all parents is, "Never let your guard down."
The additional thing that I have pondered is that I wonder how many parents are upset that they let their young daughters become Hannah Montana fans only to look on in horror at how Miley Cyrus is currently portraying and selling herself?
5 comments:
I read the facebook post over and over again, and kept meaning to get back there to post this one comment. One parent said let kids be kids, and I think that sometimes this is the problem. My husband and I are raising women of God with a Biblical world-view. So somethings are not permitted or aproppriate in that world-view. This is the same argument that some parents use when they want their child to be the light in public schools and not shelter them. They are not trained to be the light, but they are trained in the sinful nature and so are those around them. So the light is quickly put out. So we chose to "shelter" our girls so that they can be trained in the way they should go.
Well I consider myself in good company.
http://www.dougwils.com/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=7848:skanky-movie-iii&catid=39:education
loved your post!!!! in our house we believe that God has placed us not in a "sheltering" role, but in a discipleship role for our children. we are preparing them with the truth for when they do go out into the world. congrats on the third little one on the way. for us #3 was a breeze. hope all goes well from here on out with your pregnancy.
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"Train up a child in the way he should go: and when he is old, he will not depart from it." Proverbs 22:6
"And, ye fathers, provoke not your children to wrath: but bring them up in the nurture and admonition of the Lord." Ephesians 6:4
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