Why The Broken Heart?

Why is a parent's heart broken when a child leaves home with a bad attitude or with irresponsible or disrespectful behavior?

Parents can predict the success of their children based upon the interaction that they have with them and other family members. As children reach age 8 or 9 they should be receiving information from their parents in seven areas:

1. Self Acceptance

2. Taking Direction From Those In Charge

3. Relationships

4. Problem Solving

5. Anger Management, Self Control

6. Morality (Sex Education)

7. And What Is The Basis For True Success In Life

Parents should begin to teach this information early, not when the child becomes a teenager. As a child enters his teen years, he has already drawn false conclusions in these areas and his imagination has run away with him. The parent begins to react to the child's attitude, alienating the child further. The teen then enters young adulthood with the wrong answers and a bad attitude toward his parents. Because of this immature attitude, the parent inwardly believes that the child is not ready to move out on his own and doesn't trust the child with his own decisions.

Information should be given to a child for life long success when he enters mental puberty (age 8 or 9). The parent then has until the teen years to work with the child in developing the right attitude and standards in their life. At 13 or 14 the teen has the right answers and is not looking to others for information regarding life. A mature person begins to develop that has the trust of the parent, who then gives the child more freedom because of his ability to respond correctly to authority, who is respectful, responsible and can manage relationships. This positive interaction produces a self-accepting attitude on the part of the child with a confidence in his decision-making.

A person who leaves home in rebellion leaves physically but never emotionally!