Recently parents have been at the front of my mind. I am coming to the realization that although I am a youth pastor, the parents of the teens I serve spend a lot more time and have a lot more opportunities to shape their kids than I do. I desire to be a resource to parents and help them engage their kids in ways that are meaningful. A few weeks ago I watched a video on Youtube that a father had posted on his daughters Facebook page. The father was reacting to a letter his daughter had posted on Facebook after she blocked her parents from her page. At the end of the video, the dad tells his daughter that she is grounded and then proceeds to shoot her laptop with a .45 pistol. I have mixed emotions about the ordeal, but respect the dad for doing what he thought he needed to do to drive home his point to his daughter. This morning the Today show aired an interview with the parents and their daughter. I take away two points from this interview you can watch below. First of all, as a parent, you will not always do the right thing, however, accepting that with humility is a wonderful lesson to learn and to teach your children. The second lesson that is valuable for all of us is that what you post on any social networking site can be seen by millions of people whether you intend on it to or not. I'm sure this dad felt that he would make a statement to his daughter and her friends, but never dreamed he'd be answering thousands of emails a day in response to this. It makes us think through what we do and how we post things for the world to see. Check out the interview and see what you think.
