The article published in Meridian today http://www.ldsmag.com/article/1/11463 certainly stirred some emotion.  I HIGHLY suggest anybody who thinks kids need to experience emotional intimacy prior to their missions read the responses to my previous post, “The Day We Lose Our Youth.”

You can read my latest Meridian article at the following link

http://www.ldsmag.com/article/1/11314

Some of the comments are interesting.  It still appears as if people think it’s inevitable that kids will mess up and then repent.  Why do they insist on doing it the hard way?

This is what Amy Chau said about permissive (“Western”) parents in the Battle Hymn of the Tiger Mother.  What do you think?

“Western parents just keep repeating things like ‘You have to give our children the freedom to pursue their passion’ when it’s obvious that the ‘passion’ is just going to turn out to be Facebook for ten hours…No wonder Western parents get thrown into nursing homes when they’re old!…When their kids fail at something, instead of telling them to work harder, the first thing Western parents is bring a lawsuit.”

She concludes that our founding fathers never intended Americans to be so permissive: “Ben Franklin said, ‘If thou loveth life, never EVER wasteth time,’ Thomas Jefferson said, ‘I’m a huge believer in luck, and the harder I work the more I have of it.’ And Alexander Hamilton said, ‘Don’t be whiner.’”

Slideshow of how much fun it is for teens to unsteadily date!