We live in a very troubling world. As a parent of six children, I have spent many sleepless nights wondering how I am to raise children in such a wicked world. In just the past few months and years, the definition of the family has changed, you can "choose" which gender you want to be, and morals are old fashioned and totally irrelevant. To add to the stress of it all, kids have 24-hour access to any information they desire. Their social lives are defined by how many "likes" they get on a photo or how many "virtual" friends they have. Parents have the pressures to constantly say yes and the consequences are becoming disastrous. I recently read this article about how we are raising kids to be narcissist. The author points out, "In our fast-paced technological age, we are witnessing an upsurge in what some see as the normalization of narcissism—not garden-variety self-regard, but pathological self-absorption. And I can’t help but make the connection between a generation of approval-needy children and one of parents whose heads are buried in their smartphones. Perhaps, while we are simply too busy to notice, we are using praise as a sort of shorthand: the “like” button on Facebook, the thumbs-up emoticon in a text message. If all a child needs to do to get that endorphin-y hit of approval is grab two seconds of our time, then this will become the norm, the model for proper engagement.
These are just some of the battles that modern parents are fighting. One might ask, "What am I to teach my kids so they know who they are and how to safely get back to their Heavenly Father?" Thankfully, we have not been left alone. Heavenly Father in His wisdom and love, has sent prophets and apostles to guide us and to help us know how to accomplish this great task!
In "A Parent's Guide", published by The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints, we find valuable insight on how to keep our families safe from these evil ideologies. I am grateful to read words like these from President Spencer W. Kimball:
“‘So, God created man in his own image, in the image of God created he him; male and female created he them. …’
“The bodies of men and the bodies of women were created differently so they complemented each other, so that the union of the two would bring a conception which would bring a living soul into the world. …
“Now we must emphasize here that the Lord made man and woman, male and female to reproduce after their kind, and in the billions of unions there has continued to come a male or a female. Their bodies are still so formed that they will continue to the end of time in producing male or female, the spirit children of God. …
“This was the normal, proper way to preserve the total program, to bring souls into the world and to give them opportunities for growth.
“Let no carnal mind decide in his or her feigned brilliance or pretended wisdom that a mistake was made. The whole program was intelligently organized to bring children into the world with love and filial interdependence. Had the superficial ideas of many mortals of today prevailed, the world, the human race, and all proper things would long ago have come to an end” (“The Lord’s Plan for Men and Women,” Ensign, Oct. 1975, p. 4)."
We can also turn to the scriptures as a source of guidance. In Deuteronomy 31:8 we read, "And the Lord, he it is that doth go before thee; he will be with thee, he will not fail thee, neither forsake thee: fear not, neither be dismayed." Heavenly Father wants our children to return back to Him more than we as their parents do. He sent His spirit children into our homes for us to teach them how. As I lay awake worrying, my mind catches hold upon these truths: We have been given many tools to help us navigate this wicked world and we are made equal to the task. I hope that we as parents will cling to the counsel of our prophets and apostles. They are the mouthpiece for our Father in Heaven. As we look to them for guidance, they can help us distinguish the Lords path from the world’s path. We will have the eyes to see through the ideologies that would be harmful to our children and our families. In this tricky quest, May we parent like we mean it!
Works Cited:
Canva, n.d.
Pocock, J. (2017, February 22). “Are we Spoiling our kids with too Much Praise?”. JSTOR Daily
https://daily.jstor.org/are-we-spoiling-our-kids-with-too-much-praise/
The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. (1985). A Parent’s Guide. Chapter 4: Teaching Children: from Four to Eleven ( pp. 27)
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