Sexting. Bullying. Deadly social media games. Addictions.

These are not issues relegated to big cities. To someone else’s neighborhood. Or to the future.

These are things that our kids are facing now. If the issues aren’t immediately affecting your son or daughter, they surely personally know a friend who is affected in some way. And rest assured they’re hearing about it, at much younger ages than ever before.

And these concerns are just the bigger, more visible ones. What about the more innocuous problems?

Simple things, like the self-doubts and misguided perceptions planted in this generation’s minds and hearts by pop culture. Whispered gossip among friends. Fleeting but stinging Snapchat posts. And so much more.

As Head of School Ty Fischer examined in a post earlier this month, the recent slew of sexual harassment scandals rocking our political and entertainment world is just a symptom of the greater ills plaguing our society. We as parents lament it all the time, don’t we? Our kids are exposed to so much more than we ever were at their age. If only things were more like they were decades ago (ha, perhaps even centuries ago?). If only, if only.

And yet, we continue to watch television shows and films that perpetuate the objectification of women, the casual view of sex, and the downgrading of true, strong masculinity and beautiful, strong femininity. We listen to music that does the same, flippantly tossing out lyrics about tossing off clothing and dignity in one fell swoop. Then we shake our heads and wag our fingers when politicians, entertainers, and athletes say the same things.

“Finally, brothers and sisters, whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable—if anything is excellent or praiseworthy—think about such things.” (Philippians 4:8)

Look, I’m not advocating that we shut ourselves away from culture entirely. I’m not even saying that we completely avoid all secular entertainment. There is enrichment we can glean and beauty we can enjoy from the talents on display. Of course, making secular arts off-limits to your tween or teenager is often a sure-fire invitation for them to seek them out and devour them.

I’ll say it again: “...whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable—if anything is excellent or praiseworthy—think about such things.”

Instead of wishing the times away, lambasting the misbehavior of our fallen icons, and shaking our heads at our kids’ generation’s shortcomings, how about we look at what we personally take in and revere in our hearts and homes?

How do you and your family spend your time? How do you examine the entertainment that you take in? And what can you do about grounding your kids in the truth so that they grow to love the light and recognize the darkness?

As a private, Classical Christian school, Veritas has the distinct privilege and responsibility to partner with parents who hope to equip their children for Christ’s calling to be loving, serving, and thinking disciples, and lights in the midst of a dark world. It’s a weighty duty that we don’t take lightly...but yet, we have found ways to have a whole lot of fun connecting our students with truth, beauty, and goodness. Any time spent on our Facebook page or in our hallways will reveal a community that laughs and relishes in both the small, everyday joys and in some of the most unique traditions around.

Take last weekend’s Colonial Ball, for example. A staple of our calendar, and one of the most beloved school traditions, it began well over a decade ago with a teacher’s vision for both a family-friendly alternative to the prom and a way to incorporate the study of Colonial history. Thus was born a one-of-a-kind affair that involves girls sewing their own period dresses, 7th-grade boys dancing a reel with the ladies, and parents, teachers, and students alike laughing, conversing, and waltzing the night away.

The Colonial Ball encompasses so much of what we can do as parents and teachers to guide our kids to the kind of strength and purity of spirit that our culture needs.

1. Fun as a family

Enjoying memories together as a family isn’t just for fun. It builds ties, respect, and trust. Showing our kids that we enjoy their company (and that our company can be enjoyable, too) goes a long way in helping our kids to see the joy in the simple and wholesome things - which can be easy to forget in the confusion-fraught peer climate. Our Colonial dance is not just for the students; it’s for the whole school community. And, for the most part, the whole community present at the dance embraces it. Families connect with each other, parents and children make memories together, and faculty interacts with students in a joyful way. FInding ways that you can enjoy time together as a whole family unit - even as your kids grow into their teen years - will go a long way in developing the type of character we hope our kids will embrace and embody.

2. Displaying chivalry and embracing our roles

At the Colonial Ball, the gentlemen bow to the ladies before offering their hand. Dances are conducted with respect to our partners and those sharing the floor. Boys ask the girls to dance. Utmost class is on full display (even if there are toes trampled, beats missed, and plenty of laughs to be had). If only we all conducted ourselves in a similar manner off of the Colonial dance floor. How refreshing to witness chivalry at its best - not demeaning to women, but raising, honoring, and supporting them.

As Christian parents, let's model and teach chivalry not as a drudgery, but as a delight. Let's show our girls the joy and freedom in dignity and modesty. Not that we should revert entirely back to Colonial values, but the longstanding, much-loved tradition of the Colonial Ball show the benefits of embracing some of those oft-forgotten mores. The kids relish it, and as we model the benefits of displaying true class and warmly receiving the way God has uniquely designed us as men and women - and as we show utmost care and respect for those of the opposite gender - we will buck the downward trends of eroding relationships and social mores. If I may, this could also include calling out the type of media we and our children are consuming. Do the personalities and characters on the shows and films we watch degrade one another and toss values out the window? Do they make light of the bumbling, useless male stereotypes or the controlling, domineering woman? Do the song lyrics lead our minds down a path toward disrespect of ourselves or the opposite gender? We have a responsibility to not necessarily guard our children's hearts as they grow, but to teach them how to wisely guard their own. Don't squander that opportunity.

3. Enjoying Wholesomeness

Maybe you would think that today's high school student would roll their eyes at something like the Colonial Ball. Especially upperclassmen who have been through the drill several years in a row. But believe it or not, when a scheduling snafu threatened to derail this year's Ball, our senior class firmly balked at the notion of canceling. Truth is, they love the Colonial Ball. It says something about good clean fun: it's not dead. Far from it. It's enjoyed and deeply appreciated...and not just by wistful grown-ups. Don't underestimate our kids' thirst for that which is true, noble, right, pure, lovely, and admirable. As we continually fill their tanks with goodness, they will be adequately equipped to be instruments of that goodness.

We often hear the phrase that Christians are to be “in the world but not of it.” Jesus, in praying to the Father before his crucifixion, said of his disciples (and by extension, us) that “they are not of the world, even as I am not of it.” (John 17:16) Yes, we live in this world. And being called to make disciples, we can’t blind ourselves to the realities around us. But we can be intentional about the things with which we fill our minds, hearts, and schedules.

Not that we should go back to wearing gowns with shifts, stays, and stomachers every day, but looking at the pure enjoyment of stepping out and stepping back in time together at the annual Colonial Ball, there is something to be said about honoring traditions of the past. It’s not necessarily about history or just going back in time. It’s about seeking out enrichment and entertainment that goes against the grain of the self-seeking, self-promoting, and self-gratifying tendencies of today’s offerings.

Then we can raise up a generation who honors the opposite sex, who respects the way that God made their own bodies, and who seek out truth, beauty, and goodness for Christ’s calling.