Are Parents Wrong to Try and Protect Kids From Giving in to Peer Pressure?

Q: Our teenagers resent the boundaries we have set for them concerning entertainment choices. They accuse us of “sheltering” them and causing their friends to laugh at them. As parents are we wrong to try and protect them from giving in to peer pressure? — C.P.

A: The story is told of teen siblings who asked their father for money to go see a movie with their friends. Knowing the content of the movie was inappropriate, the father told them they couldn’t go. The son and daughter debated their position by telling their father that there were only a few curse words and one minor immoral scene, but the rest of the movie was a wonderful love story with high adventure. The father refused to let them go.

Sulking, they retreated to their rooms until they were called for supper. When it came time for dessert, their mother set a pan of freshly baked brownies smothered with creamy icing on the table. The father cut large squares for his children and said, “Your mother has made your favorite dessert, but there is one thing you should know before you eat it. I had her mix some manure into the batter.” The teenagers shoved the plates back and tilted away from the table. “How could you?” they moaned. “Oh, it’s just a little bit,” the father answered. “Enjoy!” That lesson, both of the teens said later in life, served as a reminder that it takes only a trifle to corrupt.

Sinful man thinks he is good, but he bears the seed of sin. The transformed sinner is to desire to please Christ in their thoughts, words and actions. God blesses this powerful testimony before an evil world. “For what is highly esteemed among men is an abomination in the sight of God” (Luke 16:15).

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(This column is based on the words and writings of the late Rev. Billy Graham.)

(c)2018 BILLY GRAHAM DISTRIBUTED BY TRIBUNE MEDIA SERVICES, INC.