POWER TO INFLUENCE

"You must...understand that the advice you give your children -- whether good or bad -- will be remembered. Your power to influence your family's attitudes about the culture should be seen not as a burden but as an innate quality that is always active. You must never, ever forget that it is impossible to choose inaction on your part in the arena of influence. A decision to go with the cultural flow -- a decision on your part not to fight the culture, to stay away from the conflict and take the easy route, to just lay low -- does not negate the influence you have on your children but results in your influence being a negative one. A decision to not make a decision is still a decision. Inaction, in itself, is an action. In other words, you are not a neutral force in your household; your action or perceived neutrality is a force that will shape your home and the personalities, choices, morals and values of your children for the rest of their lives. ... [Y]our kids don't need you to be just another friend. They need you to be their parents." --Rebecca Hagelin, Columnist for Townhall.com and Vice President, The Heritage Foundation, Communications and Marketing