Most mornings you will find me at the Y on the treadmill trying to fight the aging process. During my morning run the TV is usually tuned to the Today Show. A recent segment on the Today Show caught my attention. The story regarded restaurants and airlines that are now promoting Child Free Zones. Several major airlines now sell tickets with the gaurantee that no children will be allowed. Restaurants too are forbidding children from dining because of their undisciplined behavior. To make matters worse, the parents who bring their children to the restaurant usually ignore their offsprings bad behavior. This move on the part of restaurant owners is not a surprise. Who hasn’t had their meal interrupted by an unruly child standing or jumping on the seat behind them. I have seen children wander the restaurant unsupervised and actually take knives and forks off of other tables with no intervention by their parents, who are usually oblivious to their child’s rude behavior.
So, restaurants, airlines, and who knows else, are protecting themselves from our miscreants, and The sad part is many of these parents are Christians, who ought to hold a higher standard.
Proper Bible based character development is a crucial component to our children’s behavior. Whether at home or in public our children ought to be taught to be considerate, careful, and mindful of others around them. Our children should practice self discipline and delayed gratification at home so that they will exercise self discipline and delayed gratification at the restaurant or on the airplane. Mom and Dad, if you treat your child like they are the center of the universe they will grow up to believe that the world revolves around them… And it doesn’t!
Be the Parent!
