When did we stop teaching our boys manners? When did we stop showing them how to treat women? Why do we let Hollywood destroy their image of females and love? Why have we stopped letting them do things around the house and pitch in not just for allowance but because they are part of a family? Why do we let them stay little boys way into adulthood? Why are we not fighting against the violence they see or the massive amounts of sexual images that are thrown at them daily through the TV, Facebook, their phones, and magazines? When did we stop talking to our sons and having real authentic conversations with them? When did we give up our authority and responsibility to talk to them about sex, dating, boundaries, and God? We let the church, their friends, the internet or TV guide them. These are not very reliable sources. Why do we turn our heads or pretend that everything is okay when IT IS NOT?
In Chap Clark's book, Hurt: Inside the World of Today's Teenagers, He suggests that the middle adolescents (ages 14-18) with whom he interacted "feel betrayed and abandoned by the adults in their world, because the grown-ups have, "abdicated [their] responsibility to nurture the young into adulthood."
- 95 percent of juvenile homicides are committed by boys.
- Boys are the perpetrators of four out of five crimes that end up in juvenile court.
- Boys under the age of 18 are responsible for close to one-fifth of the violent crime in the United States.
- One in three adolescents in the U.S. is a victim of physical, sexual, emotional or verbal abuse from a dating partner, a figure that far exceeds rates of other types of youth violence.
- 75 percent of high school students admit to academic cheating.
- Fewer than 10 percent of American teens have internalized their faith to the point that it actually makes a difference in their sexual practices.
- Some researchers have stated that the average age of exposure to pornography is down to 8!!
- 39% of teen boys say they have engaged in "sexting"
These statistics are just the tip of the iceberg! We are letting the world take our boys and turn them into the wrong kind of men. We have stopped fighting for integrity, honor, manners, responsibility, purity, kindness, good sportsmanship, truth, and the ways of Godly men. This doesn't just happen naturally; boys have to be taught and modeled the appropriate behavior. They have to be held accountable for their actions and understand consequences of their decisions. They need to see that their parents, especially their dads, have high expectations not to make them perfect but to raise the bar on manhood.
These boys that I have been gifted stole my heart from the moment they were born. It is my responsibility, my duty, my job as their mom to say, "You are the sons of a mighty King and you are a Lee. I love you too much not to fight for the man you are supposed to become. I am not concerned about you being the coolest, the best looking, the strongest or number one at any cost. I will stand up and tell you no even if everybody else is doing it. I care more about your heart than your popularity. Some days you will be mad at me and not understand our decisions. But know this my sons, dad and I will be held accountable to God how we raised our children and this battle will be fought through prayer and a lot of hard work. But YOU ARE WORTH IT!"
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"For he issued his laws to Jacob; he gave his instructions to Israel.
He commanded our ancestors to teach them to their children,
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so the next generation might know them—
even the children not yet born—
and they in turn will teach their own children." Psalm 78:5-6
