Proverbs 13:1 teaches us that "a wise son accepts his father's discipline, but a scoffer does not listen to rebuke." As a high school teacher, I often see the truth of these Words. I don't fault a child for behaving like a child, and needing a rebuke once in a while. To be honest, as adults we even need to be rebuked from time to time. What appalls me is when a rebuke is warranted, but nowhere to be found. Once during a teachers' training session, we were shown a video of three teenage girls who were guest performers on The Queen Latifah Show delivering a free-verse poem wherein they berated America with a series of false and, in some cases, self-contradictory aspersions. Instead of being corrected early on, these angry young social justice warriors in training are touring the country, and being cheered and called brave. (That one's lost on me, since all they're doing is regurgitating the message that has been exclusively taught to them their entire lives before an audience that shares their views.)
After having viewed the video, the educator running the session turned to us and breathlessly expressed her admiration for the girls. Meanwhile, I sat at my desk clutching my notes that I had frantically jotted down during the brief video, documenting as many inaccuracies and misrepresentations as I could keep track of. (I'll publish them here soon, just in case anyone's interested.)
To my fellow parents and fellow educators who do not love our children enough to correct them when they are wrong, I would be utterly humiliated if some of my students were touring the country and appearing on television passionately shouting out their completely inaccurate, unstudied, and illogical views. We are to blame. Instead of teaching, we have taken a backseat in our own classrooms and taught our children that their opinions are valid, regardless of truth. We've taught them that to make their voices heard is more important and more noble than to make sure that they're right. How can they even have the chance to listen when the rebuke isn't even there?
"A fool does not delight in understanding, but only in revealing his own mind."-Proverbs 18:2