Questioning the Pearls – Put That Boy to Work!

Questioning the Pearls – Put That Boy to Work! August 20, 2017

QuestioningthePearlsA father wonders what went wrong in his relationship with his teenage son who is champing at the bit of control exerted by the parents. Guess what Michael Pearl blames this mess on?

For well over a year we’ve been running a second Answering β€˜Preparing To Be A Help Meet’ on Sundays, filled with questions by young ladies trying to get ready for marriage. Since we’ve run through many of the questions on their site it’s time to shift Sundays to something else, like perhaps examining the cornucopia of probably fake emails and questions that Michael and Debi Pearl of No Greater Joy post on their website and the possibly poisonous answers they give.

Original letter and reply here.

First the letter:

I have raised three girls and they all turned out well. My last child is a boy who has just turned fourteen. I am seeing signs of trouble and need some advice. I don’t think I know how to raise a boy. He is unhappy with his circumstances in life. He feels that I am depriving him of friends and opportunities to experience life. He wants a cell phone so he can share with others on social media. He wants to β€œhang out” with guys that I do not have confidence share our vision for our son. My greatest concern is that it seems I do not have his respect. We are really not friends. I feel like he thinks I am an impediment to his happiness. What can I do?

Michael’s reply:

In most cases success is not due to any forethought or deliberation by the parents; they just pass on their hearts and temperament in a natural context incidentally suited to raising good kids. It’s the β€œold paths”—what average Christian, rural families were seventy-five years ago. Our society is no longer Christian and no longer natural. Community is not natural. Family is not natural. Education is not natural. And child training is not natural. There are still small pockets where young men and women come to marriage bringing with them a relaxed worldview and lifestyle that will result in good kids, but every year that circle becomes exponentially smaller.
A family that works together stays together. A family that strives together thrives together. A family that is a working team, striving toward a common goal, will engender loyalty in their children. Things like feeding the animals, collecting eggs, butchering chickens so you will have meat on the table after church on Sunday, repairing the barn, or adding on a bedroom so the kids can spread out are examples. Taking the boys to work where they learn a trade is invaluable. Even the girls feel better about themselves when they have operated a weed eater, bringing in money to enhance the quality of life for the whole family.
The child who is not needed as part of the team will gravitate toward loyalties outside the family.
Participation cannot be staged or fabricated. It must be real. The child who is not truly needed for the survival and well-being of the family will not develop holy pride and righteous ambition. He will turn to video games, social media, and friends who just β€œhang” together, talking about how the world β€œsucks.”
Boy have a greater need to explore, invent, achieve something objective, conquer, and compete. They have a need to be meaningfully engaged in pursuits that yield objective results, like rebuilding automobiles, painting a house, cutting firewood, building something that others will admire. They are little kings looking to build a kingdom and furnish it. Idleness (including entertainment) breeds self-loathing and wanderlust.

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