Do you know how to raise your children? Of course you do. If you look around the community, you would probably agree that you raise your children more or less the same as everybody else does.

But researchers, psychologists, community workers and clergy are now making some interesting observations. For instance, in the last 20 years we are more often likely to hear the words, “I” rather than “we” or “us”. One professor raised concerns that we are raising a “Facebook generation of egocentric children.”

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Others are saying that children are “developing a sense of entitlement that the world should revolve around their needs and wants.”

Our community is built on trust, communication, shared interests, compromise, faith and belief. Many are concerned that these are not the values that our young people are having instilled in them. Indeed, it is so easy to get the practice of raising children very wrong. Parenting is not an easy task.

Commentators are saying that we, as parents, are overindulgent and thus are raising self-centred children.

Our history, culture and faith are Christian, God centred and community minded and family orientated and not self-centred.

Children cannot be supplied with their every wish, or given all the choices, or encourage to make all the decisions. Somethings are not good, are not right, or are just sinful. There are limits in life.

This is where our Christian faith helps us out. We believe that we are all children of God, created by God, and made in His image. Self-indulgence tells us that we somehow are independent of all things, control our own destinies. Here is the problem! Our history, culture and faith are Christian, God centred and community minded and family orientated and not self-centred.

Bringing children up, includes the process of being able to have a realistic and balanced view of life expectations.

Life is not a series of “fun” events. We do have our good times, but there are also times of sorrow, sickness and problems.

Bringing children up, includes the process of being able to have a realistic and balanced view of life expectations.

To get these proprieties right takes education, information,  good parenting and God’s blessing.

Bishop Peter Stasiuk C.Ss.R. AM

This article was published in The Church and Life Newspaper, March 2019