Now it happened in Germany: kids taking guns to school and shooting other kids, teachers and anybody they can draw a bead on. I've thought about this before and this latest event brought it to the "front burner" again.
I think a major contributor to this tragic phenomenon is the SELF-ESTEEM thing. You know, the theory that, at all costs, a child must be made to "feel good" about himself; praised for little or nothing at all; protected from all unpleasantness; never to be held accountable or suffer consequences; never to hear the word "no"; forever the center of the universe.
Now what happens when "junior" runs into folks who don't deal with him like that, e.g. teachers, other kids, employers, those in t he ''real world"? Possibly all sorts of things, most of them unpleasant for him, and consequently also for those who live around him, resulting in frustration, rage, anger, etc.
I think we should emphasize SELF-CONTROL with our children. Life is NOT ABOUT FEELING GOOD… it's about DOING GOOD, even WHEN WE DON'T FEEL GOOD. It's about meeting the frustrations, failure, insults and disappointments not with rage and violence, but with grace, civility, good manners, and maybe even a bit of humor. Life is all about KNOWING WHO WE ARE, i.e. not a narcissistic, ego-driven little twerp, but a FORGIVEN-BY-THE-BLOOD-OF-JESUS CHILD OF GOD.
Self—esteem, defined as being self absorbed, self focused, self satisfied without reference to achievement, is pretty much a description of sinful human nature. To encourage this is like throwing kerosene on a fire.
The Word of God encourages us to another direction: "Don't think of yourself m ore highly than you ought."… "Don't focus on your concerns, but rather the concerns of others"… "Have the attitude of Christ: He humbled Himself, became obedient to the Father, even to the point of dying upon a cross BECAUSE OF THAT GOD HAS HIGHLY EXALTED HIM".