Wednesday, October 8, 2008

Parenting Ain't Easy

According to a 2007 survey by The Barna Group, it appears that a lot of parents are struggling. In its April 23, 2007 update, www.barna.org reported that...  

  1. A majority of parents feel overly busy, stressed out or are buckling under the pressure of mounting financial debt.
  2. Most adults are dissatisfied with their job, even though it consumes a majority of their waking hours.
  3. American parents tend to blame other parents for the problems evident among today’s young people while excusing themselves from any blame. A large share of parents, however, do express worry about the future that their children will inherit and how prepared their children are to deal with the challenges of that future.Fewer than one out of every ten families have parents who pray together, study the Bible together and lead the family in regular explorations of their faith.
  4. The standards that parents have established for evaluating their own performance as a parent are innocuous. If their children have avoided publicly recognized problems - such as physical or substance abuse, gang involvement, satanic activity, pregnancy, or physical aggression - and continue to get passing grades in school and stay relatively healthy, the parents believe they are doing an acceptable job.
  5. Few parents are aware of the dramatic effect the media have upon people’s behavior and values. Just 9% of parents believe that the media are the most significant influence on their children’s lives, and only one out of every three parents of kids under 13 impose any significant restrictions or limitations on how much or what type of media their children are exposed to. Shockingly few parents have discussions with their children about the content of the media they have digested."
So... as you minister to the children in your church, remember to be prayerfully aware of the pressures that their parents are under.    

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