21st Century Parenting

Instructor: Dennis McCallum

New parents in the 21st century face a daunting and confusing array of challenges to raising a godly family. The culture is growing more dogmatic about parenting theories based on naturalism and postmodernism. Children face a consensus among their peers that explicitly rejects the Christian worldview. Future marriage and family success becomes every year less likely for today's kids. This course will address these challenges with wisdom from the Word of God and the experience of older parents.

Course Materials

Videos of this class are available:

  • Week 1 - What are Parents and Children? The Theology of Parenting
https://vimeo.com/777132411/0a231c29f9
  • Week 2 - Parenting in the 21st Century - Birth and Infancy
https://vimeo.com/777136417/002039fba2
  • Week 3 - Toddlers
https://vimeo.com/777141907/28898faa27
  • Week 4 - School Kids
https://vimeo.com/777146268/2c1e80ebe1
  • Week 5 - Teenagers
https://vimeo.com/777127123/c96322cad3

Course Bibliography

Belsky, J.  (2003). The politicized science of day care: A personal and professional odyssey. Family Policy Review, 1(2), 23-40.

Bretherton, I. (1992). The Origins of Attachment Theory: John Bowlby and Mary Ainsworth. Developmental Psychology, 28(5), 759-775. Retrieved from https://eric.ed.gov/?id=EJ453419

Bronson, P., & Merryman, A. (2009). NurtureShock: New thinking about children. New York: Twelve.

Cloud, H., & Townsend, J. (1998). Boundaries with kids: When to say yes, when to say no to help your children gain control of their lives. Grand Rapids: Zondervan.

Daubney M. (2013, September) "Experiment that convinced me that online porn is the most pernicious threat facing children today" https://www.dailymail.co.uk/femail/article-2432591/Porn-pernicious-threat-facing-children-today-By-ex-lads-mag-editor-MARTIN-DAUBNEY.html

Galloway, M., & Pope, D. (2007, Winter). Hazardous Homework? ENCOUNTER: Education for Meaning and Social Justice, 20(4), 25-31.

Gray, P. (2011). The Decline of Play and the Rise of Psychopathology in Children and Adolescents. American Journal of Play, 3(4), 443-463. Retrieved from https://eric.ed.gov/?id=EJ985541

Levine, M. (2013). Teach Your Children Well: Why Values and Coping Skills Matter More Than Grades, Trophies, or "Fat Envelopes" Harper Perennial.

Hilton, D. (2013). Pornography addiction - a supranormal stimulus considered in the context of neuroplasticity. Socioaffective Neuroscience & Psychology, 3. doi: https://dx.doi.org/10.3402/snp.v3i0.20767

Manning, W. D. and Lamb, K. A. (2003), Adolescent Well-Being in Cohabiting, Married, and Single-Parent Families. Journal of Marriage and Family, 65: 876–893. 

Nelson, C. A. (2007), A Neurobiological Perspective on Early Human Deprivation. Child Development Perspectives, 1: 13–18. 

Rosenfeld, A. A., & Wise, N. (2000). Hyper-parenting: Are you hurting your child by trying too hard? New York: St. Martin's Press.

Sandstrom, H., & Huerta, S. (2013, September). The Negative Effects of Instability on Child Development: A Research Synthesis. The Urban Institute. Retrieved from https://www.urban.org/research/publication/negative-effects-instability-child-development-research-synthesis

Shaw, K. (2013, August 9). Why Do You Have to Work, Mama? Retrieved from https://www.huffingtonpost.com/kristin-shaw/why-do-you-have-to-work-mama_b_3419116.html

Vandell, D. L., Belsky, J., Burchinal, M., Steinberg, L., Vandergrift, N. and NICHD Early Child Care Research Network (2010), Do Effects of Early Child Care Extend to Age 15 Years? Results From the NICHD Study of Early Child Care and Youth Development. Child Development, 81: 737–756. 

Vitelli, R. (2013, August 19). Are Video Games Addictive? Retrieved from https://www.psychologytoday.com/blog/media-spotlight/201308/are-video-games-addictive