Is It Harder to Be a Parent Now, or Are We Just Overwhelmed?

We had an interesting discussion this morning about how difficult it is to raise kids now compared to 20, 30, or 40 years ago. I had four children, and it was much easier then than it is now.

The school board adopted some new policies here in Billings, dealing with what children are exposed to in the libraries. That's one of the main factors that make it more challenging. Many years ago, kids were not exposed to what they see now on a daily basis, so it was easier to keep control of them.

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Meta announced yesterday a new series of controls to prevent certain content and limit the time kids spend on social media platforms like Instagram. Kids are inundated with so much information—most of it bad—that they get lost in determining what is right or wrong. It affects their mental composition and social skills among their peers, just to name a few issues.

Add to that the fact that kids are now raised by complete strangers between 8 a.m. and 5 p.m., which also adds another element beyond the parents' control. Whatever a child is exposed to will have a huge impact on them, period.

Years ago, we didn’t have all of these elements to deal with. Maybe that's part of the plan: show these kids what you want them to see, and that's how you shape the future.

The parent, in my opinion, is still the most important job that anyone could ever have. I wish more people were good at it; then we might not be searching for solutions to these problems.

Thank you, God, for the rain, and we'll see you back here tomorrow at 5.