Summary: Why Is It So Difficult To Teach This? It is not natural for anyone to automatically fall under someone else’s authority. We are self-focused and think we know it best. (How well I know this, as my youngest is 2 .) Respect for authority is not cultural either, we seem to have made a game out of insulting authority figures. The media consistently pokes fun, constantly questions, and sometime outright disrespects those in authority. While we want to raise our children to be critical thinkers, there needs to be a line of respect for a position. Respect isn’t role modeled in our culture either. Look at way some of the parents berate coaches and refs at children’s sports games. It has gotten so bad that some of the fights between coaches and parents have made news. We need to look at ourselves and make sure that our children are seeing us role model respect. Do we question their teachers or other school staff in front of our children? What do they hear us say about our pastor, our boss, even police officers? Another influence in our child’s life is music, TV and movies. What are we allowing our child to watch or listen too? Many of the shows and movies present adults and authority figures in general as silly or ignorant, and the children are the heroes of the story. We need to make sure that the music and things they watch are […]
