What Have We Done to Our Children?
A very disturbing article regarding the mental health of incoming college students was published last week. From the article, “Dr. Gene Beresin, a psychiatrist and Executive Director of The Clay Center for Young Healthy Minds at Massachusetts General Hospital, says 50% to 60% of college students have a psychiatric disorder. ” You can find the rest of the article at New Concerns Arise About Mental Health Of College Students.
In the past many in the psychiatric world blamed religion in general, and Christianity in particular, for many of the psychiatric disorders of their patients. I have never understood this. I gather they assume that moral structures are too restrictive for personal expression. Many assumed that we need no moral restraints in our lives and that restraints are the sources of many mental issues.
In the current state of our society with the declining nature of Christianity in our society, I do not think the former argument has any bearing on the current state of society. In fact, it is a great social experiment that seems to be at odds with the social and mental health of the American people. It fact, the lack of Christian influence seems to be causing far more problems.
This article on the mental health of students disturbs me. I think it has to do with moral failure. The cultural elites have worked hard to destroy Christianity in our nation–I realize that Christians do a good job at doing this without the help of the cultural elites. But the result is the loss of public and private moral standards. It is indisputable that our national moral and ethical standards have been derived from Christianity. Even those founding fathers like Jefferson, who were Deists, derive their moral and ethical ideals from Christianity.
Now parents don’t think about attending church. Even Christians think that sports and other events are more important that attending worship and teaching their children Christian life principles, both by word and deed. Christianity, as expressed by the average Christian, is empty, vacuous, and has no meaningful expression in the daily lives of Christians. No doubt that Christians rise up to help others in need as in the Great Flood of 2016 here in Louisiana. But on a daily basis, except for a few insipid religious statements on Facebook, you cannot tell a Christian from an Atheist.
Secular society cannot provide any meaningful moral structure. When one believes that we are just an accident of evolution, how can we derive any moral absolutes? We cannot say that human life is just a mere accident and then assign great value to life and say that morals are principles that protect and upon life? We innately understand that humanity is of great worth and that we are very different from the animal world. But humans do not want a divine entanglement from a God who has rule over their lives. Thus, we humans seek to either minimize morality or create our own degraded morality because we think we are wiser than God.
The result is our children are raised in moral relativity. Parents do not teach a proper sexual ethic because they have none themselves. How many children grow up with multiple step parents and live in lovers? Parents see life as about pleasure and self-centered desires. Children derive their values from their parents. How can it be any other way? Parents actually condemn their children to a life of failure by the way they live.
Moral structures are necessary for mental health. We are more than animals and were never meant to live as if morals were of no consequence. Students need a framework that give them structure in difficult times. They learn these skills from their parents. Church can help but the primary teachers must be the parents.
Students are arriving at college and universities emotionally and mentally deficient because their parents did not do their jobs. Think about it. Students are arriving at college without decision making skills, moral and ethical skills, the lack of a work ethic, and very often educationally deficient not holding basic educational knowledge needed for college or technical school–and I again blame this on parents. No wonder students are mentally ill, have a high suicide rate, and a high failure rate. Because their parents followed the temptations of society, they have left their children ill equipped to deal with adulthood. Who else is there to blame, but those most responsible, parents.
