The past few generations of Catholics have adopted a philosophy of “exposing” their children to anti-Christian environments/ideas so they would be “prepared” to face them as adults. Some parents stated that “they did not want their kids to end up so sheltered from anything bad that they instantly went wild the minute Mom & Dad weren’t around.”

Although it sounded good in theory, this practice has become one of the main reasons four out of five kids leave the Church by the time they are twenty. The Devil is laughing because instead of strengthening our children, we corrupted them ourselves!

Children do not think the same as adults and cannot handle adult situations, adult ideas, or adult pressures before they reach a certain age, know certain truths, have a certain maturity level, and have a certain inner toughness. Many bad ideas look very attractive to young people whereas adults realize their foolishness. “Exposing” kids before they are ready (or at all) means you are just doing the Devil’s work for him. Imagine teaching your kid to face the dangers of car crashes by letting him drive when he is 10 years old.

There is a reason that children are not allowed to drive, vote, drink, join the military, hold public office, teach, lead the nuclear science program, etc. Some people have forgotten why this is so.

Should you prepare your kids for the attacks, bad ideas and peer-pressure you know they are going to face? Absolutely! You must do this. But you have to do it carefully, after a certain point in their development. If not, you will likely corrupt them instead of help them.