![\"teen-sit-large\"](\"https:\/\/wp-media.patheos.com\/blogs\/sites\/644\/2016\/07\/teen-sit-large.jpg\")
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I\u2019ve known Christian parents who wish their teenagers wouldn\u2019t watch R-rated movies, wish their daughters wouldn\u2019t wear suggestive swimsuits and prom dresses, and wish their sons wouldn\u2019t put sexually provocative posters on their walls, look at pornography on their phones, or listen to music that glorifies immorality.<\/p>\n
We must stop wishing and start acting! God does not give us responsibility without corresponding authority.<\/p>\n
\u201cBut I don\u2019t want my children to think I don\u2019t trust them.\u201d Trust is important, but it is never unrealistic. Some parents trust their teenagers in situations I wouldn\u2019t trust myself in. You can trust your fourteen-year-old to his level of maturity and life skills. But that doesn\u2019t mean you would trust him to fly the space shuttle or have a smart phone with internet access. Some things he\u2019s not yet ready for.<\/p>\n
A young man from another state once met one of my daughters at a sports camp. Because we had one family email address, his emails to my daughter came to me. I sat down with her, recognizing she had done nothing wrong, to tell her I felt she needed to stop receiving emails from him.<\/p>\n
She started crying. I felt terrible, because I really did trust her, but based on some of what he wrote, I didn\u2019t trust him. Soon I was crying, too. Finally I squeezed her hand and walked away, feeling like a lousy dad.<\/p>\n
Just then I felt my daughter\u2019s hand on my shoulder. I turned and she hugged me, still in tears. Then she whispered words I\u2019ve never forgotten: \u201cThank you for protecting me, Daddy.\u201d<\/p>\n
I wonder how many dads have failed to protect their daughters and sons because they craved their approval. When speaking on sexual purity, I once asked a class of 125 Christian college students, \u201cLooking back, how many of you wish your parents had given you less freedom in your high school years to go where you wanted to and hang out with who you wanted to?\u201d Over 100 hands shot up.<\/p>\n
Children will resent and eventually despise parents who just want to be their friends, including dressing and acting like them. Your children already have friends. They need you to be what only you can be\u2014their parent.<\/p>\n