All the time we hear older generations saying that millennials need to grow up. Some have said that they do not care about college readiness they just want “out of my basement readiness”. That the younger generation needs to take personal responsibility for their lives. We hear that the younger people have no work ethic and that they feel entitled to everything. For the most part, this is true, but it has resulted from a parental generation reinforcing socialist ideas at home.

Socialism is the idea that everyone is responsible for everyone else. No one in the community should have more than another person no matter your productivity. If someone were to make more money than the authority figure, government, would redistribute that money to people in need.

Here are 6 ways parents teach socialist values to their children.

1) Sharing

Forcing children to share is the laziest form of parenting. A parent hears two children fighting over a toy and comes into the room yells at the children to share the toy and walks out. Parents who do this are teaching their children that whenever someone comes to steal your possession you should just give it to them. If you hold onto your property, then the authority will come in and punish you.

Solution

Teach your children that they are not allowed to steal. If a child is playing with a toy in the house, then that is theirs, and they do not have to share it. Simplifying the rules in the house makes it easier for children to know right from wrong. Children will naturally share because they are social. They want to play with others, and the only way to do that is to share. Sharing is good when it is a choice, but when it is forced it is unnatural and results in strife. Reduce conflict in your house by stopping the stealing.

2) Teaching Obedience

When a parent says, “because I said so”, they are teaching their children blind obedience. This is also a form of lazy parenting. It reinforces the idea that a child has no say in their lives. They are supposed to obey authority no matter what. As children grow up hearing this phrase it results in some of the most heinous of crimes and the defense is, “I was just following orders.”

Solution

Parents should explain their decisions to their children. As a child grows, he should have more control in decision making. Also, if you want to teach your children personal responsibility, then allowing your children to make poor decisions is a learning lesson. Yes, sometimes this is more stressful, but it results in a child that takes charge of their lives and learns to deal with their consequences.

3) Unnecessary Force

Sometimes when a child is not obedient, it is easy to use unnecessary force to obtain compliance. When punishments are too harsh a parent can usually manipulate a child to do almost anything. This teaches our children that punishments can never go too far. After growing up with harsh punishments it is no wonder majority of Americans agree with government torturing prisoners.

Solution

There are natural consequences to every action that we take. As parents, we should try to mimic these natural consequences. If Johnny hits his sister, then he is not allowed to play with her. This is a natural consequence. This way children will grow up to become more sensitive to injustices in the world.

4) Managing Play

In a socialist society, there is one business that supplies one product. Competition is restricted because it promotes profits. Therefore, schools determine how a child can best serve the community. Then the child is put in that occupation. This is becoming more accepted because parents are managing a child’s play or traditional “free-time”.

A school-age child wakes up, and they go to school for 8 hours. At school, they are told what to read, what to watch, and what to study. Then they go to sports practice where they are told how to play. Then we wonder why they sit around “bored” all the time. They are never given the opportunity to explore their own decisions.

Solution

Give your child more freedom! Let them decide what they want to learn. Let them decide what they want to play. Let them explore their curiosity. As a child grows in this freedom so will their learning potential. Children naturally will learn to take responsibility of their time.

5) Chores Without Compensation

Many children are given weekly and daily chores with no compensation. Some parents say that they pay their children with rent and food. It is not true because if the child does not do the chore then the parent will still provide the rent and the food. This reinforces socialistic values that no matter what you do you will be provided housing and food.

Solution

Teach your child how to make a deal. Chores should resemble work and with work there is compensation. This does not mean that your child should be given a weekly allowance. It simply means there should be a trade for their work and time. Teaching them that their work and time have value is good for their work ethic.

6) No Options

Bernie Sanders, a Socialist presidential nominee, recently said that there should be one kind of deodorant. In a socialist society, there is no choice. Parents who do not give their children options are reinforcing the value that the authority knows what is best for the individual and that the children should rely on them for that decision.

Solution

Give your children freedom of choice. When they eat breakfast, let them choose what they are eating. When planning a vacation or going out to eat, allow the children to have a democratic voice in the decision making. This teaches the children how to have an opinion and defend it. By consistently allowing your child choice, they learn the value of freedom, what they want in life and how to get it.