"Family Matters"
By Paul Kendall

Two Gates

Our society has come a long way from Leave It to Beaver and My Three Son’s. For those of you who have no idea who they are – they were young people who actually said things like “No Ma’am’” and “Yes Sir”. Today we’ve got kids suing their parents, calling 911 when threatened with discipline and even divorcing their parents.

Isn’t it interesting that when television and other forms of media portrayed respectful, wholesome children – the nation had a much higher percentage of respectful, wholesome children? Nowadays, television and movies are full of self empowered kids with little to no use for their parents. Take one Friday night stroll through the mall and you will see a mirror image of the media.

I’ll never forget seeing a young man cursing at his mother—in public no less. I remember telling my wife… “Ooooo just let me be his father for one day!” We’d all agree that disrespect in children is wrong but my question to you today is “How did it happen”. Where did that child get that concept of behavior from?

I want to introduce you to TWO GATES: One, is the EYE gate – and the other is the EAR gate. Everything that flows through either of these gates becomes an indelible memory in a child’s brain. On top of the fact that the media openly promotes sexuality, violence and disrespect, current technology has taken it a new level. These messages are everywhere, on TV sets in every room of the house, on computers, on radios and in an endless supply of movies. Our children are literally barraged with compromised messages of morality.

Many children are left to themselves for a few hours after school because both parents must work. I can safely say that the great majority of problems in my own life can be traced back to when I was fifteen years old and left unsupervised after school.  Now, I have wonderful, Christian parents who would have never allowed this to happen intentionally - and neither would you. But the simple truth is found in Proverbs 29:15 “…a child left to himself brings shame to his mother. “

Our adversary is a master strategist and willing to wait patiently, even years, to see the effects of sin begin to take root in a teen-agers life. James 1:15 says that “when desire has conceived, it gives birth to sin; and sin, when it is full-grown, brings forth death.” So, how is desire conceived? This happens the first time a young boy sees pornography on the Internet. It happens the first time a young girl is left in a compromising situation with her new boyfriend. 

Imagine a young boy seeing alcohol portrayed as being “cool and exciting”
in a movie. As a result, the next party he’s at – he’s offered alcohol and decides, this time, to drink it. One occasion leads to another and then another. A few years later, he is featured on the nightly news for an alcohol related automobile accident that cost him his life. It started with contaminated information passing thru his eye gate and resulted in his death.

Now, you may be thinking, “I can’t control every waking moment of my child’s life!” That’s true; you can’t – but that’s a far cry from where many parents are today when it comes to overseeing their children’s activities and what they are exposed to. 

As parents, we cannot control every aspect of our children’s lives, but we are responsible for creating a CONTROLLED ENVIRONMENT for our children in their formable years. You can make a difference in the next generation by the way you raise your child today.

I don’t think anyone names their son “Beaver” these days… but we can still train them to say “No Ma’am’” and “Yes Sir”.

That's Family Matters... I'm Paul Kendall.

Paul Kendall is the host of the popular syndicated radio program "Family Matters" and author of a new book by the same name. Radio programs, family resources and much more are available at www.KendallFamilyNetwork.com.