One benefit of home instruction that is often overlooked is the increased opportunity that it affords parents to influence their children’s character. This advantage is of no small consequence, when you stop and consider that a significant number of the problems of modern society can be traced back to the failure of parents to discipline and guide their children in a proper manner. After all, young people who know little or care less about how the Ten Commandments/golden rule apply to their everyday lives are the most prone to live their lives at the expense of others.
I was recently reminded of the power of parental influence for good as I read the following story on the internet:
The other day, someone at a store in our town read that a methamphetamine lab had been found in an old farmhouse in a nearby county and asked me a rhetorical question; "Why didn't we have a drug problem when you and I were growing up?”
I replied that I had a drug problem when I was young: I was drug to Sunday school and church. I was drug to church for weddings and funerals. I was drug to family reunions and community socials no matter the weather. I was drug by my ears when I was disrespectful to adults. I was also drug to the woodshed when I disobeyed my parents, told a lie, failed to do my homework diligently, spoke ill of those in authority over me, or when I neglected to put forth my best effort in everything that was asked of me.
I was drug to the kitchen sink to have my mouth washed out with soap if I uttered a profanity. I was also drug to family devotions and prayer each day. I was drug out to pull weeds in mom’s garden and flower beds, and to remove cockleburs out of my dad’s fields. I was drug to the homes of family, friends, and neighbors to help out some poor soul who had no one to mow the yard, repair the clothesline, or chop some firewood; and, if my mother ever learned that I took a single dime as a tip for my acts of charity, she would have drug me back to the woodshed.
You know, those drugs are still in my veins to this day, and they affect my behavior in everything I do, say, or think. They are stronger than cocaine, crack, or heroin; and, if today’s children had this kind of drug problem, America would be a much better place.
God bless the parents who drugged us.
(Written by Randy and Melanie Bordelon)
More and more, Western society is being burdened with young adults who can only rightly be described as “the new barbarians.” Young people whose upbringing has been so pathetic that they scarcely blush as they commit the most despicable acts against their neighbor, is just one of the fruits of post-Christian cultures that have devalued the importance of parental responsibility and authority.
The time has indeed come for more parents to recognize the vital importance of spending quality time in the training of their children’s characters. In the case of those involved with home education, such parents must take advantage of the extra opportunities that are available to them each week to “drug” their children in the way that they should go.
Copyright 2008 Michael J. McHugh