Growing up Christian in a Secular World
Remaining Christian while growing up in a secular world necessitates difficult decisions from parents and child alike, as no exact paradigm guides them. Among the Christian community, many families disagree on how to raise their children. Some follow a very conservative model and prohibit their child from seeing any movies with crude language or violence. Others opt to allow their children to watch movies or play video games—with little content discretion—thinking the exposure will prepare them for life. Neither extreme can truly benefit a boy as he grows into manhood. So what is the healthy balance between the two?
Sheltering a child from every possible evil may seem like a wise choice to the parents at the time, but eventually can lead to the spiritual and moral demise of the individual. Overprotection of children has not only led to the downfall of people, but of empires. Shortly prior to and during the decline of the Ottoman Empire, princes lacked the freedom to roam the kingdom learning politics and military strategy before the king selected a successor. Consequently, they became lethargic and unmotivated, causing them to rule weakly. Improper preparation leads to failure. If someone who spent their entire life lazing about playing video games attempted to climb Mt. Everest, they would fail miserably. To conquer a peak as formidable as Mt. Everest, a person must train intensively and consistently.
What happens when a child who has been sheltered his whole life goes out into the “real” world? Sometimes they will cling to what they have learned. But many times they lose sight of their previous morals and beliefs. In fact, they may not even realize their morals have vanished. Indeed, as the demon Screwtape says in C.S. Lewis’s The Screwtape Letters, “The safest road to hell is the gradual one.”
Just as an extremely conservative criterion of rearing children has disadvantages, so does a liberal one. Many families let children not even nine years old play M-rated video games or watch R-rated movies, both with content deemed for those ages 17 and up. How can seeing graphically violent or sexually explicit material benefit a child? In other cases, children are given free roam of the internet, which can prove equally dangerous. Too many children or young teens are given more than enough figurative slack to hang themselves.
Pressure to grow up faster and faster envelops children in today’s world. Looking back, many adults yearn for childhood’s bliss. Why rob children of their naivety, implanting ideas they cannot purge from their mind? However, just as too much freedom proves detrimental, so does too little. Battles must be fought; and battles will be fought. Fighting them while still living at home greatly increases the chance of success. Planning strategically at what point in their life a child will have certain freedoms can help ensure the healthy balance is achieved. The presence of intentional decisions about a child’s freedoms will build them up without breaking them down in the process.
