by Bill Hall<\/p>\n
All along we hear questions raised as to what has gone wrong with today’s youth. Recently, a brother expressed his concern along this line and then asked, “What advice would you give young parents to help them avoid mistakes that we have made in our generation?”<\/p>\n
The first thing we would say is: All is not bad with today’s youth. We see young people in the church voluntarily attending special classes conducted for their benefit and studying diligently in preparation for these classes. We see them singing in the worship periods, listening to sermons, following in their Bible, obeying the gospel as they reach accountability, and living conscientiously before God.<\/p>\n
But all is not good. We are aware of drug abuse, sexual promiscuity, drinking, gambling, and crimes of all sorts among the youth of our day. We are appalled at the lack of self-control exhibited by athletes in both college and pro ranks. What has gone wrong?<\/p>\n
A recent newspaper article helps to explain what has gone wrong. The opening paragraph says: “A high school football player who was arrested and charged with hitting a 15-year-old in the face with a crowbar has his coach concerned and his mother worried about his football future.”<\/p>\n
Worried about what? When parents are more concerned for their children’s football future than they are for their character; when they are more concerned for their children’s financial well-being than for their eternal well-being; or when they are just not concerned, period, we can expect problems among our youth. Priorities are all wrong. Too many parents, in order to feed their own egos, push their children into positions that will bring honor and popularity, but give little thought to what will build character, integrity, and responsibility within them.<\/p>\n
“Fathers, do not provoke your children to anger, but bring them up in the discipline and instruction of the Lord<\/em>” (Ephesians 6:4, ESV).<\/p><\/blockquote>\n
What advice would we give to young parents? Bring your children to every service of the church; encourage them to form close friendships with other children who attend regularly; do not try to shield them from hurts and disappointments, but allow them to work through their disappointments; hold them responsible for the consequences of wrong-doings; make sure that your greatest desire for them is that they go to heaven and that they are aware that this is your greatest desire; pray with them and teach them how to pray; and love them, love them, and love them some more.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
by Bill Hall All along we hear questions raised as to what has gone wrong with today’s youth. Recently, a brother expressed his concern along this line and then asked, “What advice would you give young parents to help them avoid mistakes that we have made in our generation?” The first thing we would say…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"advanced_seo_description":"","jetpack_seo_html_title":"","jetpack_seo_noindex":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false},"categories":[1033,27,1028,1034],"tags":[665,29,107,309],"class_list":["post-61630","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-adolescence","category-article","category-parenting","category-teenager","tag-child-rearing","tag-parenting","tag-raising-children","tag-youth"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":87412,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/why-are-we-losing-our-young-people\/","url_meta":{"origin":61630,"position":0},"title":"Why Are We Losing Our Young People?","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"June 2, 2025","format":false,"excerpt":"by James P. Needham via\u00a0Sentry Magazine, Vol. 17 No. 1, 31 March 1991 I'm sure you are aware of the tragic loss to the church of many of our young people. It has reached alarming proportions. Have you ever wondered why? It is high time we investigate the reasons and\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Article"","block_context":{"text":"Article","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/article\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":13899,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/when-i-grow-up\/","url_meta":{"origin":61630,"position":1},"title":"When I Grow Up","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"April 18, 2021","format":false,"excerpt":"by Jeffrey W. Hamilton Text: Lamentations 3:19-38 \u00a0 I.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0Have you noticed how the world sets up different standards for children and adults? \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0A.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0You can\u2019t smoke until you\u2019re a certain age \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0B.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0You can\u2019t drink until you have reached 21 \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0C.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0In some ways it makes sense, we want to protect our children\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Audio"","block_context":{"text":"Audio","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/audio\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":56143,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/expect-more-out-of-your-kids\/","url_meta":{"origin":61630,"position":2},"title":"Expect More Out of Your Kids","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"November 24, 2008","format":false,"excerpt":"by\u00a0Matthew Allen Earlier this week, I participated in a discussion concerning alcohol and advertising. The debate was over whether alcohol companies target youth in their advertising. There is very strong evidence to suggest that the alcohol companies do in fact target adolescent audiences even though such persons are under the\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Adolescence"","block_context":{"text":"Adolescence","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/parenting\/adolescence\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":60912,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/what-no-special-programs\/","url_meta":{"origin":61630,"position":3},"title":"What! No Special Programs?","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"May 28, 2011","format":false,"excerpt":"by Bobby Witherington via\u00a0The Reflector, April 2011 Visitors to our assemblies are sometimes amazed (and maybe disappointed) to learn that this congregation does not have a special youth program. Nor a kitchen. Not even a bus ministry. Do we have something against young people? Or kitchens? Or busses? Not at\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Article"","block_context":{"text":"Article","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/article\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":14676,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/was-david-a-young-man-when-he-killed-goliath-and-not-a-boy\/","url_meta":{"origin":61630,"position":4},"title":"Was David a young man when he killed Goliath and not a boy?","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"April 18, 2008","format":false,"excerpt":"Question: In studying I Samuel 17:38-40, I am wondering if David is not a young boy as some stories depict him, but instead, he is a young man. Saul was the tallest man among the children of Israel and we see that he is now giving his armor to David\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Answer"","block_context":{"text":"Answer","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/answer\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":52540,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/should-we-allow-our-son-to-get-an-earring\/","url_meta":{"origin":61630,"position":5},"title":"Should we allow our son to get an earring?","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"February 3, 2018","format":false,"excerpt":"Question: Dear brother Jeffrey, I hope you are doing well, and that everything is going well in your work and in the local church. Brother, I wanted to ask about this personal matter. I have a 15-year-old son who is not a Christian. He is generally a good boy and\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Answer"","block_context":{"text":"Answer","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/answer\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]}],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/61630","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=61630"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/61630\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=61630"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=61630"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=61630"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}