Parenting Means Children First

If you are a parent, you should feed your kids at a reasonable time, rather than let them go without adult supervision to get fast food after 9:00pm on a school night. Then you should make sure that they get to bed at a decent time so that they can do well in school. This is called being responsible and proactive.

If you receive a call that your kids are in the back of a police car and they are underage, you probably weren’t paying attention to your kids or their needs (or safety). Instead of blaming the police who detained the children during a “shots fired” investigation, you should be happy that the kids are safe. Then you should STOP blaming others (being reactive), STOP using (and teaching) inappropriate language and behavior (irresponsible), and put your children’s needs before whatever it was you were occupied with when you should have been parenting.

Good parenting is the most important thing that we can do for our children. They lack the maturity to make responsible choices because they are still developing. If their parents also lack the maturity to make responsible choices, they are setting a bad example and setting the stage for more irresponsible behavior.