We Must Guard the Hearts and Minds of Our Children (Part II)

I taught for 21 years. My career began before we had a single computer(in an entire school) which was connected to the internet. My career ended with iPads, iPhones, smart watches, wifi, and a single classroom which likely had a collection of 30+ devices within it at any given time. In my own experiences, I see some similarities to a previous generation which saw the first cars, and as they grew older…witnessed NASA put man put on the moon. Within an eighty year period we went from horse and buggies to space travel with rockets, shuttles, and space stations. In short, due to the information revolution, the world now has nearly unimaginable(just a few years ago) access to our children. As parents, we need to rapidly adapt to that last fact!!!

When I was a kid, I could ride my bike and maybe get a mile or two from home. My parents were very aware of the influences within that radius, and we knew when to be home. Today, our children can range ten thousand miles from home and into chatrooms on the other side of the planet without us ever knowing it. They can play video games with anyone in the world if provided with high speed internet connections. During a single decade(2000-2010), the number of people who had access to our kids grew from a few hundred people within a two mile radius to billions anywhere on the planet. Not all of those people have benign intentions.

The danger, as we have seen this week, is radicalization by communist elements or worse. Human traffickers, pedafiles, and political radicals all may groom hundreds at a time.

We must be vigilant as parents. I Peter 5: 8 reads…

Be alert and of sober mind. Your enemy the devil prowls around like a roaring lion looking for someone to devour.

Have we not seen Satan devour lives during this past week? Two families lost sons. Children lost their beloved father. A wife lost her cherished husband. A nation lost a likely future President.

In 2014, Mark O’Mara made a startling claim.

Literally, by the time a child is 18 years of age, they‘ve killed over 100,000 people in video games and other online things.

I would suggest that number is much higher today. Our children are being desensitized to death at an alarming rate. They are also being desensitized to and consequences. That is evil. We must turn them to righteousness which is composed of abundant life – not abundant death!!!!

Here are some practical things which we (as parents) MUST be actively in monitoring?

1. Online Gaming
2. Social media and chat room platforms
3. Phones
4. Gaming apps
5. Friend groups
6. Alcohol and drug dependency
7. Educational content at school(HUGE!)
8. They must love God with all their hearts and minds(HUGEST)

You are not being invasive in monitoring these things. You may well save your child’s life. The MOST IMPORTANT voice in child’s life is that of their parents. We must be the angel on their shoulder offering them a better way than the devil which sits perched on the opposite shoulder!

As a teacher, I can’t remember a single social studies initiative which promoted the value of democracy and the free market. In fact, I have personally witnessed entire social studies curriculums dumped in favor of just teaching math, science, and literacy. Far too often(not always!), students are taught to feel shame when learning about our nation.

Folks, we have done plenty wrong in our nation’s history, and those discretions have been well documented. But ya’ll, our nation has done some great things – things which we should celebrate, honor, and remember. We have produced documents which freed entire peoples from the tyrannical subjugation of kings, czars, and emperors. The power of government which once rested in the hands of a single inherent leader, was eventually returned to the people.

The United States of America sent its young men to fight and die in western Europe TWICE during the twentieth century. They manned trenches along the battle lines of WW1 France. They ran up beaches through a hail of gunfire at Normandy. They jumped from planes, and parachuted into enemy territory. The manned ships in waters infested with U-boats. They held the line on the Korean Peninsula. They walked the jungles of Vietnam. They manned outposts on mountain tops between Afghanistan and Pakistan. They broke the chains of oppressive governments. They are heroes.

Our young people deserve to know that they are descendants of courageous men and women who forged a nation which values personal freedom and then defended it against all aggressors. And guess what? That is still a work in progress. They need to know that they reside in a country, which if you will work hard enough, provides them with opportunities and choices to be who they want. If your child’s school is not teaching those things, then you need to think twice about sending them there. Don’t let them be indoctrinated.

In closing, we must stand on the ramparts of the walls of Jerusalem much like the men of Nehemiah had to do as the walls were rebuilt. We must stand guard and let this great awakening run its course. We must repel evil, and let our children grow into strong Christian men and women who will bravely preach the Gospel, love truth, seek wisdom, and who can think for themselves. Critical, literate thinkers are the single greatest obstacle to any potential totalitarian government.