Parenting Observations - Rebecca Hagelin

"Our teenagers are more sexually active than any generation of youth before them. They also are consuming more pornography and compromising basic moral standards more often. It seems that many of them have lost not only their innocence, but their conscience, too. The plethora of negative and immoral behaviors glorified by a media world that's gone stark raving mad -- combined with graphic, non-judgmental sex education and a highly sexualized culture in general -- causes many of them to lose understanding of what is wrong and what is right. When a young child's sensibilities are constantly violated, and he begins to ignore the natural pangs of guilt after yielding to cultural pressures, he can end up being miserable, and begins to develop a hard heart and weak spirit. If we as parents blindly turn our own hearts away from them because we're scared of confrontation, or because we're too lazy to do 'the hard stuff' like fight for their integrity, we have a hand in dooming their young spirits to inner torment. And, ultimately, if the pattern continues, to the loss of basic decency and sensitivity to evil. ... It's critical as a parent to take control and do everything in your power to make certain that the culture does not molest your child's young mind. Setting standards for media consumption can help avoid a lot of regrets, especially when it comes to the evil of pornography. But since we are all sinners, we also need to learn to recognize when our children might be feeling uncomfortable and guilty -- and offer them hope and a way out of their despair." --columnist Rebecca Hagelin The whole article here