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Treasure Digest: Protecting Kids From Punishment: Teaching the Wrong Lesson?

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Treasure Digest

Protecting Kids From Punishment: Teaching the Wrong Lesson?

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A student was kicked out of school for helping someone cheat on the SAT test. Sounds reasonable, unless you are his parents. His family is suing for $1.1 million to compensate for the "loss of invaluable childhood friendships...and loss to his reputation," reports U.S. News &World Report. In an article titled "Parents in a Haze?" (May 26, 2003), the magazine highlighted the lack of parental support in the teaching of morals. "People don’t like to have their children punished," said Michele Rhule, a principal in Pennsylvania.

"The 2002 Ethics of American Youth survey found that 3 of 4 high school students admitted to cheating on at least one test during the previous year. Some 38 percent acknowledged stealing something from a store, and 37 percent said they would lie in order to get a good job," the magazine reported.

But what does God say to parents? "You shall teach [God’s words] diligently to your children, and shall talk of them when you sit in your house, when you walk by the way, when you lie down, and when you rise up" (Deuteronomy 6:7).

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