Gun Control?
No... Child Control!
Forget about child-safety locks on guns - we need child-safety locks on Parents!

It breaks my heart to have to read the news and find that more children - and younger are carrying guns to school and some are even using them to kill their fellow students! I wrote this article last year, but it seems appropriate - but sad - to bring it back out, again. - Editor 3/11/2001

I just read the story about the middle school student that shot his language teacher on the last day of school in Florida. My heart breaks over news like this and my mind begins to remember all too recent and yet all too similar events:

I know there were a few more, but those are the ones I can recall in just a few seconds - and these all have occurred in one years time - most within a few months! What is the problem? What is the solution? And does the Bible give ANY answers to this growing problem?

Many people are quick to say that GUNS are the cause of all this violence. "Get rid of guns" they say, " and the problem will disappear". This is based on a good feeling, but not facts.  I will not attempt to persuade anyone on the issue of gun control laws, but I will try to talk about the real problem - and to do that I have to say that I don't think guns ARE the real problem, it is children that are the problem, or should I say their parents? I don't mean to suggest that children aren't accountable for what they do... because, clearly they are:

But, back to the parents. The reason we have so many murders and crimes committed is that parents have stopped teaching, instructing, and disciplining their children to do WHAT IS RIGHT. They may commit crimes when they are young, or wait until they grow up, but basically, it comes down to the job of the parent to see that THEIR child knows RIGHT from WRONG. And receives the appropriate "encouragement' to learn the lesson well:

Yes, I see the ineffective, liberal public school system, movies, tv, music, violent video games,  etc - partly to blame. BUT who's job is it to see that children don't watch and become programmed by these evil things? Yes, it is the PARENTS!

I understand that the job is doubly hard for single parents, but THAT TOO is a failing in the job of the parent. Parents who leave each other, also leave their children open to the worst influences of our society. Divorce is a cancer on America and a terrible injustice in the life of a child. I understand divorce when a parent is abusive to their spouse or their child - but that too goes back to THEIR parent NOT doing a good enough job of instilling the proper values of love, patience, mercy, and commitment. Single parents, you must be ever vigilant in this hard time to make sure that baby-sitters, relatives, day-cares, or after-school programs are in agreement with your beliefs and the Bible's teachings. Your child is at stake, and right now, it seems, Satan is winning the battle for our kids in this world.

Not YOUR child? Yes, it is. Your child is nice, polite, gets along with everyone, etc.  Well the same is said of most teenagers that show up in the news for murder, crime, drugs, or suicide.

Wake up!  Don't be lulled into a state of denial. Take a good hard look at your young child and realize that they DON'T know right from wrong if you haven't taught it to them by your words AND actions. Realize that they spend MORE TIME in school, with friends, at the movies, in front of the TV, listening to their rock music, than they do listening to YOU.  WHO DO YOU THINK has a pronounced influence on who they are and what they believe?  It ISN'T you...

By now, they realize that you would go CRAZY if you knew what they really thought about things or knew what they have done - so they only give you the answers you want - and don't bother telling you things you don't want to hear.  I'M NOT MAKING THIS UP!  This comes from years of talking with kids and reviewing several items written by or about teenagers. 

If you aren't ACTIVELY raising your kids - then SOMEONE ELSE IS. It's that simple.

I know the problem isn't going to be fixed quickly.  But, starting with THIS generation... with you and your children; by obeying Biblical parenting commands, we CAN slowly begin to reshape the lives of our children and erase the violence on the newspaper headlines. Parents MUST "Train up a child in the way he should go: and when he is old, he will not depart from it." Proverbs 22:6.

We MUST reprogram our kids with positive things and not allow the evil of this generation to out-shout us while we do it. It will try, Satan has much to loose. Don't use CAUTION in dealing with violence, bad language, and sexual content that your child ingests - use a STOP SIGN! Slam on the breaks! 

Garbage IN - Garbage OUT. It only takes a little poison to make a barrel of pure water undrinkable.  We must closely examine the TV, movies, comic books, video games, etc. that we justify in the name of "entertainment". Folks, it is time we tear down the alter of entertainment in our homes and realize that it is literally killing our children or turning them into killers.

And let's all pray that this country of America, wakes up to the real problem... and does the job of living the solution:

One Closing Question:
Does your young child have private access to a telephone, tv, and internet connection (probably in their bedroom)?  Do you understand that you give up the sacred job of parental guidance when you allow that?  I'll not mince words.  It isn't a question of IF your child will be tempted, but how often they give in until their conscience doesn't bother them anymore.

Thanks for taking time to exhort us parents; we need it!
We live in Quebec, Canada (Montreal).  0.05 % are Christian in this province.  The rebellion is so evident in the children here because it is profuse in the adults.  We stand amazed as hardly anyone stops at a stop sign.  Jezebel reigns but not for long!  She is being torn down in this province.  
We are from Ontario.  When I cross the border between the two, it is like crossing into another country - a war-torn place of devastation.
Thanks again for your encouragement.  Our 2 children, will really enjoy your site.  Bless you.
Dean and Gail Tennier (Gail wrote)