Wednesday, February 3, 2010
Children follow their parents' cues
How do children navigate the enormous confusion of a complex world? They follow the lead of their parents. What they choose to value, to pursue, and to conform to is heavily influenced by the opinions and attitudes of their parents, even if those views are only expressed through their behavior. Parental influence also shapes how children learn to categorize their surroundings and rank their preferences. Parents with a strong desire to be accepted and validated by others will raise children who are more susceptible to peer pressure, whereas parents who focus on making decisions according to firmly held beliefs in principles will raise children with greater discipline and conviction. Parents who ignore the flood of media deceptions and actively choose to limit themselves to enriching media will raise children who discriminate in their own media choices. Your ability to break a negative pattern in your own life can bless your family for generations.
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What children choose to value, to pursue, and to conform to is heavily influenced by the opinions and attitudes of their parents. If that isn't a wake up call for future parents to improve themselves then I don't know what is! Here is the good news... as single adults/future parents we need to recognize that we can break this negative pattern before it even starts. It begins with who you choose to marry. Spencer W. Kimball said,
ReplyDelete“Marriage is perhaps the most vital of all the decisions and has the most far-reaching effects, for it has to do not only with immediate happiness, but also with eternal joys. It affects not only the two people involved, but also their families and particularly their children and their children’s children down through the many generations” (“Oneness in Marriage,” Ensign, Mar. 1977, 3 ).
Maybe standards, beliefs, conviction, attitudes, and principles need to have a greater emphasis than ever before when it comes to improving ourselves and also choosing a spouse. Breaking the negative pattern in your own life and marrying the right person will bless your children and also their children's children through generations to come.