Teaching Kids to Ignore the Rules

One of the most quoted bible verses about parenting is found in Proverbs 22:6. It says, “train up a child in the way he should go; even when he is old he will not depart from it.” Our greatest responsibility as Christian parents is to lead our children into a lifetime of living under the Lordship of their Savior, Jesus Christ. We do this by teaching through our words and our example. Recent research from the Institute for Family Studies raises concerns about the kind of example many parents are giving their kids, especially as it relates to truth-telling. Researchers found that although virtually all fifth and sixth graders are under the age of twelve and not allowed to have a social media account according to the Children’s Online Privacy Protection Rule, six out of ten kids in this age group report that their parents have approved and allow them to have a social media account. Parents, we teach our kids to disobey authority and live deceptively when we encourage and allow them to bypass the rules.