Let your children develop their own damn opinions

Thu Oct 11, 2012 10:11 pm » by **Mob 2,0**

Thu Oct 11, 2012 10:16 pm » by **Spock**

No, you should bring your children up the way you see fit, not the way they see fit.

They can make their own mind up when they move out of the house.

Thu Oct 11, 2012 10:24 pm » by **Thruster**

Spock wrote:No, you should bring your children up the way you see fit, not the way they see fit.

They can make their own mind up when they move out of the house.

Seems to be the problem with today's youth, parents letting them do whatever they damn well want. Most of them that I come accross can't handle the word 'No' to anything.

Thu Oct 11, 2012 10:27 pm » by **Spock**

That's the truth.

Thu Oct 11, 2012 10:30 pm » by **Kaarmaa**

Thruster wrote:
Spock wrote:No, you should bring your children up the way you see fit, not the way they see fit.

They can make their own mind up when they move out of the house.

Seems to be the problem with today's youth, parents letting them do whatever they damn well want. Most of them that I come accross can't handle the word 'No' to anything.

I don't think that Demobe meant to point out to this kind of education, look again.

Thu Oct 11, 2012 10:36 pm » by **Spock**

If you follow a faith, you should bring your children up in that faith. Again, they can make their own mind up when they are out of the house, but if a family is involved in a church or other religious community, it's the responsibility of the parent to bring that child up in the way that parent sees fit, including religion.

Thu Oct 11, 2012 10:43 pm » by **Poooooot**

I was raised in a religion-free household. I went from having no opinion as a child, to bouncing between atheism and agnosticism during my teen years, to finally settling on "there's really no name or term for what I believe but I suppose I would fall under "Christian"" as an adult.

My husband was raised in a strict Pentecostal home, and because religion was forced down his throat, he frowns upon it. He's a good person and he does believe in god, but his childhood has turned him off of religion.

I raise my boys with honesty. I don't force my beliefs on them. I explain to them how I feel, what I think, and what I believe. I also explain to them that no one knows anything for sure and that whatever they choose to believe, as long as it isn't hurting anyone, is fine with me. My youngest is still too young to grasp anything like this, but my oldest has formed his own opinions. He believs in God, but not ghosts. He believes in Aliens, but isn't sure on the concept of Jesus.

It's different for us because we don't attend church or practice any religious ceremonies, but still... There's a difference between raising your kids to be spoiled brats and not taking "no" as an answer, and giving them intellectual freedoms to come to their own conclusions when it comes to things of this magnitude.

My boys aren't perfect, but they're kind, generous, intelligent, and free thinkers. That's good enough for me :flop:

Thu Oct 11, 2012 10:46 pm » by **Middleman**

spock wrote:They can make their own mind up when they move out of the house.

At which time they'll be incapable of dealing with the real world without you telling them what to think.

It's a vital life skill for children to be taught how to present their opinion politely, at appropriate times and places, and when to simply keep it to themselves(most of the time).

Thu Oct 11, 2012 10:49 pm » by **Kaarmaa**

Introducing your kids to your beliefs is ok i think but don't forget that children do anything to please their parents. And they learn a lot of things by imitating them, where's the place for their personal 'spiritual' developement? What would you do if you raised you child in a christian way and one day he comes home from a friends house and says "Daddy, Rashdi's family is boudddhist, that's sooo cool, i want to be one too!" Would you answer him "not as long as you live under my roof!"....?

Thu Oct 11, 2012 10:50 pm » by **Spock**

I think in this day, as it was for me too as a teen, the religious aspect is what turned us off. Like your husband, I believe in God, but am not so much on the structured pageantry of ritual and dogma. However I am very happy I was raised protestant and I am very happy with the faith I have today, after coming to an understanding of what I will and will not allow to effect me in regards to what organized dogma mandates.

And that is what I have taught my son as well. He has decided he is agnostic, but I hope that one day he has a faith in a personal relationship with God. He is his own man now.