A wise person once said that we teach people what we know, but we reproduce what we are. The prophet of long ago taught that the student is not above the teacher, but that the teacher has not taught until the student becomes as the teacher. Yet another person says that "people will not always believe what you say but they will always believe what you do." Three people from different eras saying the same thing.
Dr. Ray Guarendi says that "children will not tolerate us getting away with less than we ask of them. If we curse, smoke, lose our temper, put down others, avoid worship services, leave our half-filled glass on the television, walk through the house with muddy shoes, and these are things we won't let them do, we're going to hear about it even if it is under their breaths with their backs to us on the other side of their locked bedroom door."
Experts say the best way to help kids avoid drugs is not to use them yourself. They say you can reason, rationalize, explain and complain all you wish about the son or daughter using drugs, but they won't buy the idea that it's all right for you to have a beer but all wrong for them to smoke dope.
It's true. When we talk about obeying the law and then install a "fuzz-buster," which over 15 million Americans have done, we are literally saying, "If you're going to break the law, be smart like your parents and use scientific methods to avoid the penalty." If we tell our children to tell the truth but when the phone rings say, "Tell them I'm not home," we've taught them to lie for us which gives them permission to lie to us.
The message is clear. Set a good example and the kids are far more likely to follow it, which means I'll SEE both of YOU AT THE TOP!