Hey everybody, I know you heard about the uncle who whipped his nephew because the teen faked he was in a gang on facebook. I can hear it now. Some parents are clapping their hands and saying "good." Still others are say,ing "What else could  be done." Others are empathizing with the teen. Or maybe the empathy is split along the lines of young parents and older parents. One thing for sure, we all have reactions to this parenting style.

I have talked to several parents and many feel that teens are completely out of control, and what is needed is good old fashioned parenting. Basically, whipping needs to be brought back.

Will it really help? I believe whpping teens is too much too late.

I watched the video and I saw the young man getting whipped. I am surprised that he allowed his uncle to hit him. I know plenty of teens who would have hit back. Instead of that video being about an uncle whipping his nephew, it would have been a video of an out and out fight.

Maybe a new approach can be taken.

1. Let's start sooner, with education. Teaching our young people about the perils of gangs.
2. Did you notice the uncle's pants showing his underwear? Isn't that a conflict? the parenting strategy, do what I say and not what I do never works.
3. Model. You be and you do what you want your teen to be and do.

If you have parenting strategies that has been effective for your teen share it with me.

The little girl looked at the cabinet that once stored cans of
government chicken meat. Now the last can of was gone.
That meat had been in the cabinet for a long time. Until recently, the
idea of eating meat from a can seemed funny. She vowed that she would
never eat the meat. Today she was hungry and the meat was all that was
available. She ate it quickly. She realized that there wasn’t anything left to
eat, and Christmas was less than a week away. She assumed there would
be no big Christmas meal. But there was a more pressing problem, what
would they eat tonight and tomorrow?
Her mother didn’t seem to notice that there wasn’t any food in the
house. Her mother went about doing her work as if the cabinet and
refrigerator was full. At last she had to ask, “Mama what are we going to
eat?”
Her mother looked at her and her siblings and said, “God will
provide. Don’t worry; He knows what our needs are. He will provide.” The
girl looked skeptically at her mother, and glanced at her younger siblings.
They didn’t seem to be concerned about the food crisis either.
It wasn’t long before there was a knock on the door. Her mother
opened the door. A young man explained that her family’s name had been
chosen to receive a Christmas basket from the community center.
Box after box of food was brought into the house. There was
everything for a good Christmas dinner, and more. As they put the food
away a second knock was heard. This time a local church had chosen their
name to give them a basket of food. Again she and her siblings went out to
receive the goodies; again they put the goodies away. Her mother
reminded her that the Lord had blessed them with more than enough food.
She was convinced that it was indeed an act of God.
Even in our time of plentiful, many children and teens are asking

parents about their next meal. A small act of kindness on our part may go
very far, in sealing their belief in God. Let’s be generous this year.