The Fifth commandment of the Big Ten provided by Moses to the people of Israel in the Book of Exodus says, “Honor your Father and Mother, so you may live long in the land the Lord your God is giving you.” For more on the 5th Commandment, check out my post here.
In 1994, Marilyn Dalrymple from Lancaster, California created a “Respect for Parents Day” to be celebrated each year on August 1. Dalrymple created the day to “make our families become united and strong by recognizing the leadership roles parents have, and to reinstate the respect for parents that was evident in the past.”
Parents are responsible for leading and teaching children to be responsible. Speaking from both observation and experience, the middle school years can be the most challenging to parents.
Consider these common beliefs about Middle Schoolers, and track how many you believe are true:
- Most of them just want their parents to leave them alone.
- By the time kids are 12, they’re pretty much grown up.
- It’s important to make good grades a high priority during middle school.
- Parents should make time for a sit-down talk about “the facts of life.”
- Friends should never be more important to kids than parents and family.
- Parents should do everything they can to be considered “cool.”
- Middle schoolers don’t need much supervision with homework and school activities.
- Middle schoolers are self-centered and believe the whole world revolves around them.
- Kids this age no longer want to be part of any family activities.
- When middle schoolers struggle in school, it’s usually because of a learning disability.
All of these statements are false and misconceptions, according to Cynthia Tobias and Sue Acuna.
Click here to learn more from their book Middle School: The Inside Story