Albert Mohler writes and interesting review of Diana West’s book, The Death of the Grown-Up: How America’s Arrested Development is Bringing Down Western Civilization. And I have had this “discussion” with Katie several times since we have become parents. I think Ben and Ethan should be on their own at age 18.
I don’t want to raise 30 year old adolescents and I will not encourage my kids to go to college right out of high school. Now before you start commenting about how they have to have a college education to get ahead, let’s think about that…
Think back to when you were in college…
How much money did you borrow to pay for that education…and does your current job, or the job you wish you had, fit your degree. If you didn’t take out student loans…congrats…you’re smarter than me.
How many people did you know in college that were just getting a degree because that’s what you’re “supposed to do”?
Did you know any non-traditional students?…older students who had been working for years, maybe the single mom that was going back to school to finish her education, or the guy that had been in the army and was going to school on the government’s dime studying something he did while in the service…I know that these were the students I always wanted on my “group project”..they just worked a lot harder…it’s like they knew something I didn’t
How many guys do you know that still love playing video games (and I’ll admit, I am one of them…) I wished I had found carpentry, fixing cars, or mowing grass, or reading books as interesting when I was younger.
How easy was life back then…the worst thing may have been that you couldn’t party in Sunday night because you had a paper due on Monday.
Don’t get me wrong, I am not out to make life unnecessarily difficult on my sons. My hope is to actually make life easier on them by showing them, and most importantly, training them, that life is what you make of it and this world rewards hard work and nothing is free.
So Ben and Ethan, I know you can’t read yet, but if you ever come across this post, I’m doing all this so you’ll be ahead of the game.
And for those who would ask, “Are you going to treat daughters the same way?…NO. My girls will live with us until they are 35. I don’t want some 30 year old adolescent male, who still lives with his parents, trying to teach them anything about the “world.”