The crew of engineers responsible for building, testing, repairing, and maintaining the equipment and vessels used during the 1960’s had an average age of 28 years old. Today’s crews for NASA engineers average 47 years old. This short dialogue in the documentary might not have jumped into the minds and hearts of many watching, but it is proof that we have babied our children into thinking they are not capable to be successful leaders until they are a certain age. We keep them dependent on us as their parents and prevent them- albeit good reasons at times- from walking through the plans God has for them at the time he has called them. 

 

Honestly, I would shutter to think that many of the potential professionals available for hire soon after college in fields as risky as NASA engineering might be assigned to the college grad who’s partied next door to my house every weekend for the last semester. My fears aren’t based on his inability to process complex engineering problems, but more on the trend of his peers and their inability to grow up- or better yet- his lack of opportunity to grow up. Our college students of today aren’t prepared for real life because mom and dad have taken care of all the details for them since they were drinking from bottles as babies. 

 

The Wall Street Journal reports that parents today are found to be still paying cell phone bills for their 29 year old adult children who are married and have dual incomes.This trend is so widespread, that the newspaper even suggested ways to gently ease the adult children off of their digital allowance to “make them start paying for overages, require them to manage the family bill, and pay for only one year after graduation.” (Lawton, 7/7/2007) I realize that parents just want to take care of the children and make sure they have all they need, but at what point do our good intentions become the very things that are keeping our kids dependent on us and never reliant upon their own ability to hear and follow God? 

 

Dr. James Dobson, Ph.D. writes that “we try to make all their decisions, keep them snugly beneath our wings, and prevent even the possibility of failure. In doing so, we force our young adults into one of two destructive patterns: either they passively accept our overprotection and remain dependent “children” into adult life or they will rise up in great wrath to reject our bondage and interference. They lose on both counts.”

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There is a middle ground that we must find in order to raise our children with the intent that they become God-reliant and purposeful assets to the kingdom of God. Where is the middle ground? Where would you place yourself on the continuum of Parental Protection?