Preparing Kids For Life: A new Barna study finds 50% or more of all adults contend that children are “not being prepared well enough” or are “poorly prepared” for the emotional, physical, spiritual, intellectual or moral dimensions of life. Intellectual preparation ranked highest with a mere 18% of parents saying kids are prepared “superbly” or “pretty well” vs. 50% saying they are “not prepared well enough” or are “poorly prepared” intellectually. 16% feel children were being superbly or pretty well prepared physically, while 54% think they were not being prepared well enough. Adult’s sense children are faring worse in the area of emotional preparation: only 12% gave positive ratings while 62% offered negative assessments. Only 8% of say kids get better-than-adequate preparation in the spiritual realm, while 71% say children get inadequate spiritual training. Similarly, 8% say kids get above average moral preparation while 75% say youngsters get inadequate moral preparation. Parents feel they are being let down by society. George Barna notes that the same people who are anguished about the mediocre support that children receive – i.e., parents – are the ones primarily responsible for the problem. “Parents alone may be incapable of fully equipping their children in every area of life, but the common strategy of waiting for social institutions to provide whatever their children need is seriously flawed. Most parents of children under 13 claim that they are responsible for the moral, spiritual, intellectual and emotional maturation of their offspring. However they lack defined standards for evaluating their child’s preparation, spend little time engaged in developmental activities with their children, and assume schools, churches, and community organizations will cover for them. It’s not working! (Barna Online 10/26/04)
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