6 Reasons Why Parenting Today is so Divisive
Parenting has got to be one of the most controversial subjects on the planet, regardless of your age, station in life, in your child-rearing years, or past them. The reasons are many and varied:
- When we are talking about our own kids, we are talking about things all the way down to our very core…even our own DNA
- It reminds us about our own parents and how they fared in the parenting department
- Is there anyone else on the planet (even your own spouse) who you have given permission to critique or comment on your own parenting methods and style?
- People’s experiences and successes with parenting vary wildly, from storybook tales to outright nightmares.
- Modern family life has many other confusing factors thrown in on top of the heap like
- Even in Christian circles, raising “good” kids can be seen as a competition between uppy parents.
a. Were your parents any good at parenting you?
b. Were both of your parents even present in your life?
c. No doubt there are deep-seated memories and feelings, good and bad.
a. drugs and alcohol abuse
b. dysfunctional family life
c. blended families
d. limited extended family, with large geographical distances more often than not the norm
e. Far many more poor role models than good ones
Unfortunately, the solid time-proven guidelines for raising healthy and prosperous kids have been all but swept out of sight in modern society. One of the major purposes for this website is to help change this situation by giving parents (young and old) sound advice and guidance based upon timeless principles rather than the latest fads or gimics.
You hit the nail on the head about the divisiveness of parenting in modern America. I began as a new parent, doing everything Christian I knew, and believing I would yield Christ-following kids. Not so.
You named the complicating factors in the mix: drugs and alcohol abuse, dysfunctional family life, blended families, and limited extended family, with large geographical distances more often than not the norm. Do these factors contribute to the challenges of parenting, or are these the results of disempowered parenting? No one really knows whether the chicken or the egg came first.
The increasingly individualistic and narcissistic culture of our time leads to the breakdown of community: minimal accountability, connectedness, and almost no role models or mentors for our young people.
Out of my experience of parenting and launching our children, I have written a book for parents struggling to regain sanity and composure when the launch takes a nosedive. My passion is to help these parents recover.
Coach Theresa
http://www.transitionslifecoaching.org/category/Parenting/