Web Ads


Powered by WebAds

Sunday, February 10, 2008

How to raise kids in a place where neglect is normal (!?)

In response to my recent post about neglectful parents, Rachel writes:

I just moved to Israel and I'm shocked that what I consider neglect and benign abuse is considered normal. And not doing it puts you in the category of "freier" [sucker] (which I consider a compliment because it is the type of behavior I want). So my question is how to raise a family when all the values that you consider important go against the norm? I want my children to have better supervision. I want them to eat healthy and not eat Bisli all day long. I want them to have manners, respect people, not cut through lines, etc.
It is easy to say to simply do it at home and they will imitate you, but kids spend so many hours in school and with friends. The environment has a huge influence on kids and as much as you want them to have your values it seems that you are the minority in this country.
So, my question again, how do you raise kids to have your values and not society's values?
Rachel, before I let my readers reply in the comments section, I suggest printing out your question and looking at it again in another ten years.