Kids Just Gotta Have Fun
Posted on: April 21, 2009
Catholic Exchange columnist Kevin Whelan responds to the idea that we shouldn’t put much pressure on kids to act mature or take on much responsibility – that we should just let them “have fun and party a little bit”:
It is true that we should enjoy and have fun in our lives. It is also true that we should not expect our children to act as adults. None of this means, however, that we are not to teach them how to use their youth as a way to grow properly into adulthood…
In contrast to just playing and having fun (typically a euphemism for Mortal Sin), we can teach our children mastery of themselves. It is this self-mastery that will allow them to make a complete gift of themselves when they have reached mature personhood. It is in this self-mastery and gift that they will find true happiness so that they won’t spend their mature years trying to recapture the immoral fun of their youth.
Theology of the Body 
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