Raising kids these days!

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christine0186

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I am a 46 year old Catholic woman. My husband and I have been blessed to have seven kids, ages 20 down to 5. I have homeschooled all but the three youngest off and on until this school year. I had to stop homeschooling them because my physical, mental, emotional plate was full and I wasn’t doing a very good job of it last year. Also, we live in an area of the country which is very overtly Christian so even though the kids are going to public school, God and faith are mentioned often which is reassuring.
Lately, however, I have been getting concerned. The moral climate out there for teenagers is so hostile to our faith. We have a lot of discussions about this but I feel like there is so much pressure against what we have taught the kids. Even in this very Christian area, where going to Wednesday night youth group is common, confusion regarding church teaching especially on sexuality is being discredited by so many! The culture seems to be winning over kids from even the most devout families. I guess this is just a vent, and a reminder to everyone to pray for our youth! The rosary every day and devotion will make a huge difference.
 
Are your kids in a Catholic Youth Group? They should be.
 
#1 question: what sort of access do they have to technology and media? And what kind of media? That cannot be overestimated as an important factor.
 
I was a teenager not too long ago and my thoughts are:
  1. Be knowledgable and prepared to answer hard questions that your kids might bring up. It is especially important for teenagers to respect their intelligence and reason with them like adults. When I was in high school, my mom still used “because I said so” as a justification. Needless to say, I did not really listen to or respected her back then. Also, it is even more important that kids are comfortable enough with their parents to talk to them about these things.
  2. Be a good example in living a Christian life. Hypocrisy tends to nuke any attempts parents make at passing their values onto their kids, especially if they are teens and can see it clearly. Kids need to be able to respect their parents and parents, in turn, need to be respectable. My boyfriend and I have been talking about this lately since we are both products of pretty lazy parenting practices and agree that too many parents think bringing their kids into the world is reason enough to get respect from them when, in reality, respect needs to be earned continually.
 
one thing to consider (if you don’t have a good Catholic school to send them) is online Catholic schools.

I posted this in another thread a while back… you might find it helpful.
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Help with public school providing sexual content to students Parenting
@teek - I would write a letter to the school board for starters. There are TONS of classical literature which is very engaging, with should be used instead of this trash. You might want to look into online high schools too, as an option. Some states, like PA even have online Charter schools, which are free because they are considered public schools. There also a handful of online Catholic High Schools (not home school programs, but actually online schools) Here are a few online Catholic Hig…
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God Bless
 
Have you read “Forming Intentional Disciples”? As parents, it is your job to disciple your teens, to make sure they have good solid Catholic mentors.

Your example of how you live your faith, not how you talk about it, will impact them for eternity.
 
My kids often attend the “local” christian youth group. No problems at all with the message and I love the fact that they interact with other like minded Christians.

Our Catholic youth group is not very Catholic. And very judgmental.
 
Be the change you want.
Don’t send them to another faith and expect them to live their own faith.
Help your Youth Minster.
Peace.
 
That is great if you are okay with them leaving the Catholic Church.
 
What ages are you having difficulty with? The teen years were the hardest (from 15-18). I have kids that are 14, 18, 20, 22, and 23. Can I give you any advice?

I can say that in my family, culture did not win out. Two of my daughters graduated from college and were married in the church. Neither of them lived with the boyfriend…

Two more kids are now in college…Both are practicing the faith and active in their college churches as well at home (vacations).

One more at home in high school.

We did pick conservative christian colleges for most of them. My son was a rebel and picked Ole Miss for college…but he is still faithful to the church.

The biggest thing I think is to have clear boundaries and rules for the kids. And when they kids did screw up, we really did use the sacrament of Confession. Actually, we go as a family (individually to the priest but on the same night) when the kids are home from break and before they go back to college…so about 5 times a year.

My kids were public school kids and I teach CCD and reinforce it at home.

Plus tons of “family fun” activities where they could bring a friend, but very little of my kids going to another house. I just was never sure how much supervision would be given.
 
TheLittleLady said:
That is great if you are okay with them leaving the Catholic Church.
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So far they are still in! Why would they ever leave? They have actually been the agent for others coming to the faith. Two married in the church, after attending protestant colleges…so I must be doing something right…

I really think that if you raise them with a strong faith, they can handle the scrutiny of secular life.

Thanks be to God!
 
If you only knew…

But yes, I know that not all kids can defend their faith as well as my kids.
 
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