You know it's not easy getting through adolescence today, and the effective parent must learn early on how to protect his kids. I'm Dr. James Dobson with Focus on the Family. Perhaps the most painful aspect of growing up is related to the assault on self esteem that is almost universal in today's teen society. Young people typically feel like fools and failures before they've even had a chance to get started in life. So how can parents brace their younger children for the teenage years to come? Is there any way to make that passage to adulthood any easier and safer? Well, one important approach is to teach boys and girls valuable skills which will provide a centerpiece in their self identity a few years later. Learning about basketball, or tennis, or electronics, or art, or even raising rabbits for fun and profit. You see, it's not so much what you teach your child. The key is that he or she learn something with which to compensate when the whole world seems to say, "Who are you and what is your significance as a human being?" The teenager who has no answer to those questions is left with an unprotected ego and at a very vulnerable time of life. Developing and honing those skills may be the most valuable contribution parents can make during the elementary school years. I'm Dr. James Dobson for Focus on the Family.
(DDAYQ p. 179)
Copyright © 1992 Focus on the Family,
All Rights Reserved. International Copyright Secured.
0 comments:
Post a Comment