Children Were Not Meant to Spend Their Childhoods Away from Their Parents and Siblings. I SAID WHAT I SAID. Therapist-Backed Explanation: Children develop their core sense of safety, identity, and emotional well-being through consistent attachment with their parents and siblings. According to attachment theory, prolonged separation from parents—whether due to excessive schooling, daycare, or structured activities—can disrupt the secure attachment bond, leading to increased anxiety, behavioral issues, and struggles with self-regulation. Dr. Gordon Neufeld, a developmental psychologist, emphasizes that children are meant to be raised by their parents, not institutions, as parents provide the irreplaceable foundation of security and identity that no outside environment can replicate. Siblings also play a critical role in a child’s development. Studies show that frequent separation from siblings diminishes natural social bonding, reduces conflict-resolution skills, and weakens lifelong sibling relationships. Instead of forming strong, enduring family ties, children become more peer-dependent, which can lead to insecurity, social comparison, and loss of family values over time. Biblical Perspective: The Bible repeatedly emphasizes parental responsibility in raising children and the importance of family unity. • Deuteronomy 6:6-7 – “These words that I command you today shall be on your heart. You shall teach them diligently to your children, and shall talk of them when you sit in your house, and when you walk by the way, and when you lie down, and when you rise.” → This verse makes it clear that God intended for parents—not the world—to be the primary teachers and guides for their children. • Psalm 127:3-5 – “Children are a heritage from the Lord, offspring a reward from Him. Like arrows in the hands of a warrior are children born in one’s youth. Blessed is the man whose quiver is full of them.” → Children are meant to be raised in loving, present families, where they are nurtured, shaped, and equipped for life under their parents’ guidance. • Proverbs 22:6 – “Train up a child in the way he should go; even when he is old he will not depart from it.” → This command assumes that parents are present and engaged—because how can a child be properly trained in the right path if they spend the majority of their formative years under someone else’s influence? Final Thoughts for the Post: Modern culture normalizes extended separations, long school days, and excessive childcare, but that was never God’s design or the natural human order. A child’s first teachers, protectors, and emotional anchors are their parents. Their first friendships, lessons in love, and lifelong bonds come from their siblings. A society that pulls children away from their families is a society that breeds disconnection, brokenness, and generational insecurity. God’s design was always FAMILY FIRST.
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