How would you prepare today's youth?

[Beiruty]

What I am afraid of is that the schools are raising the "nice" young guy, or pacifying the youth and instilling the sheeply mentality.

Now, my son is just under 7, and he started to like the shooting Lego-style games and mom is restricting and trying to ban him from such games. Mom has the interest as not to allow my son to learn that hurting others is fun or Okay. A good ideal. My son, whilst crying, try to explain to Mommy and Daddy that said lego-style game is all about survivalism. I was shocked to learn that my son is interested in knowing how to survive in hostile world (his little school world??). He talks about building hide-out and defending yourself against monster and enemies in his virtual-world aka the "roblox lego-style game"

[AEA]

Tell them to forget everything they learned in Schools in the last 20 years, and start over!

[texanjoker]

homeschool if at all possible, these days the government school system is getting worse, good curriculum is plentiful, but one of the best sites for history and government books for all ages is Wall Builders. Between David Barton and Wall Builders, they have a larger library of Founding Fathers' documents than the Smithsonian! David actually is the reason we decided so many years ago to investigate homeschooling.

I will be finding out more about Wall Builders ASAP. Thank You!
Appreciate all of these words of wisdom. I have 4 boys, they are enrolled in a decent Christian school and I have wrestled with the idea of homeschooling for years now but was never brave enough to take the plunge. But I do want to beef up their history lessons. I think G26ster's thoughts on history are spot on.
One of the hardest things I struggle with is instilling the values of respecting authority but also balancing out other side of the coin with critical thinking especially because the fact that some of those authorities are not on the up and up. They range in ages from 8-16, and we have demanded them to respect their elders, use manners and follow the rules. But lately I feel like throwing that all out the window now and say " You see guys, we are entering into a new phase of history, POTUS has no rules, and the government really isn't into the whole following rules thing, some of the police are kind of making up rules as they go, and the justice system is not thinking that we are reading the Constitution right. So its every man for themselves and that the future is going to be pretty bleak with the path we are on". I guess I'm being snarky, but goodness it's getting harder.
I very much liked how TexanJoker handled the school situation. and am going to check out the explorer program you talked about.Thank you all for great advice, It's encouraging to know there are parents at least trying.

Thanks. The police explorers are a GREAT program. I was an explorer myself and it got me hired at 18, dispatching and limited duty officer at the time. The age to be an explorer is 16-21. At 21 they figure you can become a real cop or reserve. Too young and there is danger due to the ride alongs. My oldest has been an explorer the past 2 years so I guess we went full circle. There are lots of good parents out there.

On the guns, my sons stated out shooting the BB gun at an early age while supervised. I had already bought a single shot chipmunk 22 while working a gun show one time. That gun was great to grow up on. I don't remember the age, but probably 1st? grade. When he moved onto semi autos I would only load 1 round. As he grew and his safety was there I would add a few more rounds to the mag. Now I trust him completely, although I do properly supervise him. Dove hunting is where he gets to cut loose a little and just enjoy it.

[rwg3]

Teach your kids how to read - PLEASE! I swear by all that's holy, Africans can read and write better English in the 6th grade that American kids can after they leave high school, from all I've seen.

If I see someone write "I should of..." one more time, I'm going postal

Teach them their nation's history and what a miracle it truly is; teach them the value of respect for - but not blind obedience to - authority, and teach them the difference. Teach them the value of self-reliance, teach to think for themselves and to never, ever trust anything that the media or a politician says.

This plus expose them to a broad array of reading materials, old and new sources, but be prepared to talk to them about what they picked up from the reading and most importantly why they picked up what they did. Don't try to force your kids into a mold but rather give them self reliance, skills and guidance to mold themselves. Encourage their curiosity even if means they discover things that may differ from your core beliefs. It becomes your opportunity to teach them the differences and why you believe what you do. Praise them often and publicly, punish them fairly and privately. You will end up with kids who can make their way in the world by themselves and that ultimately is the role we must accept as parents.

[grim-bob]

I'm one of the parents just starting the journey. My kiddo is 5 and in Kindergarten at a Christian school. My wife works in a public school.I'm still figuring it out and this is a great subject.

After seeing public schools of today there was no chance mine was going to one. A good Christian school or home school if possible is the best choice. But much more importantly (especially if they have to go to public school) is to be involved and engaged. I don't smother mine but we absolutely discuss the days events and what my kiddo thought about them. We do this each and every day. It's just part of our normal conversation. Even at her age she has questions and needs answers that could have a lifelong impact if not discussed early on.

[MolonLabe]

"Kodachrooooooome....."

Had to look that one up, thanks to Andy C and the Google rabbit hole, I now know way more trivia about Paul Simon than one should ever need.....and dinner will be a little less than ready tonight.
Thank you all for the advice. Maybe there is some hope for the future.

[The Annoyed Man]

Teach them their nation's history and what a miracle it truly is; teach them the value of respect for - but not blind obedience to - authority, and teach them the difference. Teach them the value of self-reliance, teach to think for themselves and to never, ever trust anything that the media or a politician says.

AndyC for Secretary of Education!

If AndyC is SedEd, your kids will all be able to execute a perfect El Presidente, and a Mozambique drill will literally be child's play for them. But of extra value will be his experience at having lived in a different country and watched it slide down the toilet before moving here. Maybe THEN kids will actually listen and be curious about how it could happen, and internalize and own responsibility for their own parts to be played in preventing it from happening here.

[stroo]

1. Spend a lot of time with your kids. You can not plan on when they will listen to you so you have to be available when they are ready to learn.

2. Watch your behavior. Kids learn more from watching you and how you deal with situations and people than they do from what you say.

3. Make sure their school teaches your values. This may require private school or home schooling although there still are some good public schools out there.

4. Go to church with your kids. Hopefully your values and the church's coincide.

[Dragonfighter]

I think what is lacking in today's youth is History. We all know the quote (paraphrased) that if we forget our history we are doomed to relive it. I firmly believe that if youngsters are not getting factual history in school, that parents need to supplement that at home, beginning at a young age with materials, electronic or otherwise, that are appropriate for their age, that give a firm foundation as to modern history of the U.S., the Constitution, Bill of Rights, Declaration, etc., and the history of the world in general. My $.02

Amen. And don't forget the Magna Carta, born of rebellion.

[G26ster]

In the mid '50's I was called upon by friends of the family to help some Hungarian refugee children learn English. They had fled the Soviet crackdown of their revolution in 1956. I remember vividly what I saw and heard from these families and children. It was so unbelievable to an American boy like me to hear what they went through. This is the type history we must never forget, and we must make sure our children know it.

[Lupine]

Did the Stay at home dad thing for the first 5 years of my daughters life. Taught her to read and write and how to express herself without crying. Since then started teaching her to shoot bb pistol and rifle at 7. She was shooting 4H competitions at 9, along with Hunter Ed and Wildlife Identification. Now she is doing Youth And Government competition through the Y.

[hpcatx]

I plan on doing the same with my 3 week old daughter.

Not directly on topic, but had to wish you, your wife, and the rest of the family a congratulations!

[suthdj]

What I am afraid of is that the schools are raising the "nice" young guy, or pacifying the youth and instilling the sheeply mentality.

Now, my son is just under 7, and he started to like the shooting Lego-style games and mom is restricting and trying to ban him from such games. Mom has the interest as not to allow my son to learn that hurting others is fun or Okay. A good ideal. My son, whilst crying, try to explain to Mommy and Daddy that said lego-style game is all about survivalism. I was shocked to learn that my son is interested in knowing how to survive in hostile world (his little school world??). He talks about building hide-out and defending yourself against monster and enemies in his virtual-world aka the "roblox lego-style game"

They have lego games we had wood forts and toy guns, not really a differance in concept only one is outside with people the other is not.