2016 | Week of July 25 — For the next few weeks Wisconsin Family Council will be airing The Best of the Best of 2016. This episode of the Wisconsin Family Connection previously aired the week of Monday, March 14 (#1141)

The war on children. It’s real. It’s relentless. It’s vicious. I’ve talked about this before, but I want to revisit it for emphasis and to also give some practical suggestions for ways parents and other concerned adults can not only help protect children but also put them in a position not to just survive this war but to thrive.

Here’s a list of many of the ways the war on children is waged. A war is waged on them in the womb—with over 540,000 preborn babies being aborted just in our state since 1974.  Too many children are immediately in a battle for survival because they are born to single moms, putting them at great risk for a host of problems, not the least of which is severe poverty.

The war continues in school, where in our public schools children are taught that they are the product of chance and evolution, not the unique, amazing creation of a loving God. While at school, too often children are told they can’t have or voice opinions that are contrary to the popular culture. They are silenced and marginalized and sometimes the victims of true bullying.

Then there’s the war on their purity—from school sex ed classes to pornography to the sexualization of everything in the media, from sexual orientation to gender identity.  All of this too often leads to children becoming involved in human or sex trafficking—yes, right here in Wisconsin.

In the medical area, we have the war on children that prevents medical providers from giving parents of minor children any information regarding reproductive health-care their children may have had. And now, vaccinations are being pushed on children—often in spite of the parents’ best judgment.

And then there’s gambling and drugs and alcohol—all of which are designed to ensnare and addict children—often for life. Finally, there’s a war on children that is determined to make them totally dependent on government for everything, thereby destroying their independence, creativity, incentive to work and more.

So what can parents and other concerned adults do. Here are few ideas. Admit the war in all of its permutations is real. Admit Satan and the world want our children. Know the issues. Research them. Get reliable help.  Talk, talk, talk and talk some more to your children. Use family meetings, one-on-one meetings. Use teachable moments. Ask questions. Lead discussions. Force issues. Remember: you’re the parent, not the friend.

Invade their privacy, especially their social media privacy. Know who they interact with, where they are, what they watch, what they listen to. Explore. Investigate. You are not out to win a popularity contest. You are out to protect your children. Encourage an open and secure environment in the home, where no question is out of bounds. Get over your own discomfort—the world has. Go to church together. Read the Bible and pray together. Purposefully build a bibilical worldview in your children. Don’t leave it to chance.

Use strong internet filters. Have family standards for TV and movie viewing.

Plan family activities that are designed to bond the family and build the children, with a special focus on making men of your boys and young ladies of your girls. Help them appreciate the God-given differences between the sexes and to appreciate and respect the opposite sex. Encourage your church to address all these  issues.

Love your children enough to fight for them. Know your children so that you can best help them. Don’t assume your child will never be taken in…assume they will be taken in. Model the behavior you want—that’s so very important. And finally, walk closely with the Lord every day. Stay in His Word. Believe it and trust Him—and pray every single day for your children—and then rejoice in God’s everlasting love and faithfulness, remembering that He loves your children even more than you do.

The Bible tells us children are a gift from God, a heritage of the Lord. They are not trophies, toys, inconveniences or burdens. They are humans stamped with the image of God and, in stewardship, given to parents to love, care for, instruct, and protect. If parents and other adults don’t do battle for the hearts, minds and bodies of their children, who will?

This is Julaine Appling for Wisconsin Family Council reminding you the prophet Hosea said, “My people are destroyed for lack of knowledge.”