Sometimes teaching kids skills is more important than the luxuries of life!

Flag folding.

We just finished another successful camp out with the Boy Scout Troop.  Many skills were taught and learned.  Everything from compass skills, to lashings, to cooking, and even flag etiquette was accomplished. I'm very proud of my Troop and all the things they got done.  Their mastery of skills for their respective ages was very pleasing.  It's the reason we do the things we do.  To prepare these boys for life as a man.  To give them useful skills and more importantly, give them hands on training that will give them self confidence in other areas of life.  But it got me to thinking.  What do the rest of the kids in America do with their weekends?  What are we teaching them is important with their down time?  What skills are they learning?


Unfortunately, the answer is scary!  We are raising a generation of kids to only value the luxuries of life.  The weekends and the weeks off from school are for self serving purposes only.  Kids these days only use these holidays for movies, video games, and trips to theme parks.  Gone are the days of community service and duty to one's country.  This is not Monaco or Dubai for crying out loud.  This is America!  We were founded on hard work and extra effort. But that message falls on deaf ears.  Today all extra work is for the government to do.  And parents reinforce these horrible messages.  They tell their little ones that they don't need to do any thing extra.  Don't worry, mommy and daddy will make it all better and take you for ice cream later.  So much for equipping your child for his future.  If a kid can't use a day off from school to improve himself then there is no hope of him ever taking any control of his own life and making the most of it.


We as parents all have a desire to pamper our kids.  But we must be adult enough to see the bigger picture. We must take into account how this weekend's activities will affect Little Johnny in the long term of his life. How will this Easter Holiday off of school and the plans for it will make Little Johnny a better adult?  If you answer honestly, there will be fewer trips to the movie theater and more trips to the community center.  If you know what's best for your child there will be fewer video games and a few more trips to Uncle Tommy's mechanic shop to learn about hard work.  And if you really want to teach him the value of life, instead of that theme park you will send him to see his grandparent in that nursing home.  There's nothing wrong with a little luxury here and there, but if that's all your kid knows then he will be lost and confused when he hits the real world.  The time to start teaching your kids real world skills is now, not at 18, NOW!  The quicker your kid adjusts to the real world the easier time he will have once he gets there.  Those kids that are only shown the luxuries of life will be the ones that have the most trouble in adulthood.  They will either end up on you couch or on the public assistance dollar.  Either way, teaching kids skills is the key to a better America!

Have a great and productive day!