Our kids didn't hit public school until 9th grade but I have to say that I met alot of families whose kids went through urban public grade school and middle school. Wonderful kids, very involved parents, alot of them from churches. Most of them were very good at loving people. That's the bigger reason we let them fly. It was just time. It was time to learn to make good choices when we weren't around before they went to college and we weren't around. It was also an opportunity to love people. 8th/9th grade isn't unlike the time of Bar and Bat Mitzvah - the age of accountability. "Now you are a man." "Now you are a woman."
There are a lot of discussions out there about an age of accountability for "accepting Christ" but what about an age of accountability for being responsible for making adult decisions in an adult world? I don't hear much about that. I know a couple churches who have chosen to attach more significance to that life step but very few. More significance meaning they are baptized at whatever age they understand putting their faith in Christ - a separate life step available at any age. What do you think about that? Do you think coming of age, rite of passage in the church would make it easier for young people to make the transition from childhood to adulthood?
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Craig Hill of Family Foundations International has some very interesting and, I think, rather powerful material on making a big deal of kids growing up. Here is a quote from his website:
ReplyDelete...the blessing at time of puberty is the most powerful, life-changing event in a person’s life.
"Bar Barakah" means "son of blessing" — "Bat Barakah" means "daughter of blessing." Craig teaches that this important ceremony should be taken as seriously by parents as that of their son or daughter’s marriage.