“Like a shepherd he feeds his flock; in his arms he gathers the lambs, carrying them in his bosom, leading the ewes with care” (Is 40:11).
One of our primary tasks as Catholic parents is to lead our children toward a maturing faith and a deepening relationship with Christ. Our task is to raise disciples. But an increasing number of young adults are abandoning the Faith. They don’t see God as relevant to their lives. The explanations for this changing consciousness are multifarious — not the least is the aggressive secularization of the culture. One possible explanation might miss the attention of parents and commentators: the rise of the alpha child.
The alpha child moves to dominate her parents or to displace them as the parent. It leads to chaos.
Without a strong shepherd keeping them clear of danger and directing them where they should go, sheep panic and run around aimlessly, causing injury to themselves and other sheep. Something like this is happening to our kids.
Today, many parents are distancing themselves from the authoritarian parenting style with which we grew up. We don’t want to scare or coerce our kids into compliance; we reject a mindset that says children should be seen and not heard. We want our homes to be egalitarian, with the opinions of all encouraged. But we have taken a wrong turn. In our understandable impulse to find a better way to raise our kids, we have lost something essential to their flourishing: parenting.
Yes, we’ve lost parenting.
Some of our homes have become so democratized that nobody is in charge. With nobody leading, many children take the lead. It’s bad for them and miserable for their parents.
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Read the rest of my article here over at Our Sunday Visitor News!