Guarding your children's hearts and minds in an age of rampant liberalism requires a parent's complete set of executive function skills. The molding and compacting of daily images, sounds, and metacognitive impressions far surpass that which they receive from their parents.. or single-parents.
Almost every single, if not all executive function skills can be modeled by a parent just being a parent. The ability to self-regulate, self-monitor, modulate behavior, inhibit response, focus, sustain attention, exercise mental flexibility, and have goal-directed persistence are like fields of corn that are are either harvested by parents, or left 'fallow' (uncultivated). Left to the mercy of modern western culture, children's ability to control impulses, control their emotion, or plan ahead for the short and long term are left to such well-known 'combine harvesters,' as, television and movies, sexualized billboards on the roads and highways, and a great deal of unfiltered shallow, sexualized trashy music that blasts through radio stations for all to hear.
It is impossible for a young child to be driven around most major cities and towns without seeing overt carnal pictures of women's bodies being conveyed as mere idealized 'play toys' with perfect hip, waist, breast ratio. It is impossible for a young child to be driven around most major cities and towns without viewing the overwhelming 'eye-catching' commercial billboards selling alcoholic beverages and trumpeting them as elixirs of life. It is impossible for children to view countless hours of many (not all) Disney movies without having their psyche seared by phrases and metacognitive concepts (how you view the world through your thought process) that children must fend for themselves, and strike their own path at a young age. In fact, Disney literally replicates over and over again the idea of a sultry female body that can't do much but physically grow, and sing about how Prince Charming will come, dash them away to his castle and she will live happily ever after. What kind of message does that send to a girl? How can aloof parents compete with the audio-visual candy of a Hollywood/ Disney-style million dollar production that runs for thirty to one hundred and twenty minutes? Do parents even spend that much time with their own kids? Let's be honest. How much time do many parents spend with their kids, versus putting them in front of garbage television programming that literally undermines and overwrites a parent's influence. It is as if the children are raised by this outside culture, instead of being parented and raised properly.
Liberalism sais that the above stated thoughts are over-done hyperbole that makes a mountain out of a mole-hill. But children are like sponges. Their minds are literally forming. Having to repeatedly be subjected to dosages of garbage music, garbage audio-visual programming, and garbage images on the highway all coalesce to inject enough garbage material into the impressionable child's minds that they think it is normal.
Instead, parents, even working parents, must be like spiritual warriors for their children. Gatekeepers to their hearts and minds until they are eighty-five years old. If you only monitor the nutritional content of what goes into their stomach, then you are doing less than half the job in raising children.
In meditation, a central objective is to clear the mind of thoughts and images. How about starting to clear the mind by keeping it clear. You'd be surprised how children learn to self-entertain themselves when they realize that the television is being relegated to a weekend thing. You'd be surprised how children start behaving differently if you ensure they have plenty of books to read and choose from. You'd be surprised how smart very young human beings are if you impress upon them how other kids are community entrepreneurs and they can be too. You'd be surprised if you take the time to have them memorize passages in books, how these passages 'swamp-out' useless information. You'd be surprised how smart kids are if you just give them an opportunity... by turning the television off, by putting those car-window sun blinders that limit them seeing scantly clad pictures of women's bodies. You'd be surprised how they are able to exercise their own executive function skills way better if you don't play all kinds of music through the radio station. Does a six year old have to listen to a famous singer croon about how he likes to be with a woman who's husband is out of town and no one needs to know? Not a great way to shape a mind.
Garbage in, garbage out. Exercising executive function skills starts by the tone and modeling parents put in motion and role-model. For more on what to do in one hour of time to shape the executive function skills.... you can contact CoachBill.US ....and I can quickly set you up with an executive function skills framework that is a power move to shape and mold with direction.
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