Teaching Christian Values
Respect, kindness, honesty, courage, perseverance, self-discipline, compassion, generosity, dependability. Most parents want to instill these kinds of values in their children. Doing so will protect them from potentially negative societal influences and lay the foundation for them to become good citizens.
We’re not fulfilling our responsibilities as parents if we don’t try to instill solid morals in our children. Of course, this is often easier said than done. Teaching values takes time —a scarce commodity for many parents today. “Our increasingly competitive economy is creating an environment where Mom and Dad are spending longer hours at work and fewer hours with their children,” observes Gary Hill, Ph.D., director of Clinical Services at The Family Institute at Northwestern University.
As a result, outside influences like peer pressure and the entertainment industry—through the Internet, television, movies, video games and music—are having a greater effect on children, shaping their perspectives more than ever before