4. Do you give her the opportunity to have an opinion that disagrees with yours without becoming upset? If not, how will you ever discover what she is actually thinking?

5. Research by The Barna Group, the Southern Baptist Convention, and others have shown as many as 70 to 80 percent of young people raised by Christian parents will not live for Jesus after high school. If we have the right answer in Jesus Christ, why aren’t more young people living for Jesus when they leave home? Possibly, children and teens have never adopted their parents’ faith as their own.

6. By allowing your daughter the freedom to think within reasonable guidelines, you are helping her learn how to think for herself when you are not around.

7. Decide which hills are worth dying on and allow the others to be open for discussion. A discussion doesn’t involve criticism or a lecture from her mother.

8. Does a novel involving vampires reach the level of a hill worth dying on? I believe it does not. Help her to set reasonable boundaries.

9. Discuss your concerns clearly with your daughter and then consider allowing her to read the book. Your unwillingness to stretch in this area may push her into reading it on the sly.

10. Ask questions to discover what her opinions are based on. For example, you can ask why a vampire story is appealing.

11. Learn more about the author and his or her books. Use the Internet to help you research. The author may be sound in his or her worldview. For example, Frank Peretti, C.S. Lewis, and J.R.R. Tolkien wrote books that included demons, yet you can trust their strong biblical worldview.

12. Use your research as a springboard to compare the philosophies of books using vampires with the truth of Scripture.

13. If your daughter still insists on reading these books, you should read them as well and discuss your findings together. What a wonderful teaching opportunity. Ask questions that lead to open discussions. Be careful. This book may not be all bad. Find truths as well as untruths to discuss. These books won’t kill her, and the discussions you have with her may help build her faith.

Reflection

· Do your children know what hills you are willing to die on? Do you know? What are they, and why are you willing to die on those hills? Are your hills eternal issues?

· Decide how much you will compromise on certain issues. Your children will push you right to that limit, so you need to know your limits beforehand.

· How short or long is your children’s leash? By that I mean, what choices do you allow your children to make about their entertainment? About their lives in general?

· How do your children feel about your stand on moral issues? Are vampires acceptable? Are bedroom scenes appropriate?

· Do your children have the freedom to express what is on their minds, knowing you won’t become upset? Do they experience that freedom?