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Mon 3 Jul, 2006 12:45 pm
I was having a pretty heated debate with my husband last night over who really raises our children in the 21st century. I was taking the side that in today's world, you can only teach your kids right from wrong so much and then it is up to them to decide which path to take. I say that even if you have raised your children from the begining that doing drugs and drinking alcohol is wrong, it is ultimatly their friends and what they see on tv that really tests them. He was taking the side that if you are strict with your children from the beginning and keep them in private schools and basically choose their friends for them that there is a very slim chance that they will ever truly come in contact with or ever do drugs. I say that you cannot ever truly get away from nor protect your children from drugs because they are everywhere, even in private schools.
Not only that but he was taking the side that religion does an excellent job of making sure children don't do drugs. I kind of laughed because of how hypocritical he was being for he himself was raised by strict Mormon parents and he ended up drinking, smoking, and doing drugs all the same. He actually kind of proved my point even more when I pointed that out.
From what I have seen in the lives of today's children, there really isn't much a parent can do to avoid their children getting involved with drugs and alcohol. My husband is an excellent example of that. My brother is an exellent example of the bad influences of friends. I was a sheep, I just did those things to fit in but I still to this day don't like alcohol nor did I ever get into drugs.
So how do you stop kids from making the wrong decisions? Is it up to the parents or is it up to society?
Hmmmm, teaching children right from wrong falls more under the heading of morality than making smart choices. Parents need to teach both, and kids are influenced by their upbringing, their peers, and society - each weighing in more heavily in different ages and stages of their development. But, in the final analysis, kids will make their own choices.
As you've stated, there are any number of reasons why any particular child might turn to drugs. No matter where they are schooled, except possibly home-schooled, they will be exposed to drugs. I've never been one for choosing my children's friends, but I know some parents who do that. I don't see any difference in which kids experiment with drugs. Some of the most restricted kids I grew up with had the greatest difficulty escaping from drugs. In one case, what started out as teenage experimentation ended in an long addiction and eventual death from heroin. In another, a friend turned to prostitution to support her habit. I lost touch with her and don't know if she survived her teenage years or not. Both families were of 'strong moral fiber' and had raised their children with a strong sense of morality. They didn't do a very good job of teaching them to make smart choices.
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