Big Daddy: I find myself to be in the unenviable position of defending something that I don't personally believe in one of my roles. As a parent, I tend to agree with you regarding my personal belief system with regard to rearing my children.
However, having served in youth organizations over the years, I hold those youth organizations responsible for the actions of children under its care. Moreover, I can tell you that the health of such organizations is massively dependent upon my having that belief system -- our society today is rife with examples of parents who blame authority and supervisory figures first and their children second.
Thus, it seems to come down to one of perspective. As a parent, I care about the best possible outcome for my child and that is the basis of my belief system. As a member of a youth organization, I care about the best possible outcome for the organization [i.e., the aggregate of all youth, present and future, that are served], and that is the basis of my belief system.
Finally, pragmatically, as a parent I can impact my children and as a member of an organization I can impact my organization. However, I have had over the years much less success in impacting how other parents rear their children.
