How much of an “average” American parent are you? Take this quiz to find out. You may want to write the scores on a piece of paper then add them at the end to discover your final grade. The grade scale is listed at the end.
1. What describes the amount of time (on average) your family and/or children watch TV daily. (Read Avoiding the Mainstream Parenting Trap – Part 1 and Part 2 to understand the importance of the first four questions.)
- 6 hours (30 points)
- 5 hours (25 points)
- 4 hours (20 points)
- 3 hours ( 15 points)
- 2 hours ( 10 points)
- more than 1 hour daily but less than 2 (7 points)
- about 3 hours a week or less (no points—good for you!)
2. Video games
- The video games in our house are kept in the child’s room and are not locked up. He or she may play any time and as much as he or she wants (20 points)
- My child has one or more video games that are not kept in the child’s room, and (on average) the family and/or children play daily for twenty minutes or more (10 points)
- My child has one or more video games that are kept locked up, and he or she plays once or twice a week (five points)
- My child has one or more video games that are kept locked up, and he or she plays once or twice a month (one point)
- There are no video games in our home (no points—good for you!)
3. If your child has a mobile cell phone, does he or she send and receive text messages and if so, how many (on average) each month?
- 1500 or more (50 points)
- 1000 (40 points)
- 750 (30 points)
- 500 (20 points)
- 250 (15 points)
- 100 (10 points)
- 50 (5 points)
- My child does not have a mobile cell phone (no points—good for you!)
4. How much time does your child spend on the Internet on sites such as Facebook?
- more than 2 hours daily (25 points)
- between one and two hours daily (20 points)
- about one hour daily (15 points)
- less than one hour daily (10 points)
- about three or four hours a week (5 points)
- less than three hours a week (3 points)
- less than two hours a week. (2 points)
- less than one hour a week. (1 point)
- My child is not allowed to social network in the Internet (no points—good for you!)
5. How many hours (on average) does your child sleep daily? (Read Avoiding the Mainstream Parenting Trap – Part 3 to understand the importance of this question)
- my child sleeps about 3 hours or less a night (50 points)
- my child sleeps more than 3 hours but less than 5 (45 points)
- my child sleeps between 6 and 7 hours a night (35 points)
- my child sleeps between 8 and 9 hours a night (10 points)
- my child sleeps nine or more hours a night (no points—good for you!)
6. Does your child eat a nutrition breakfast each morning? (Read Avoiding the Mainstream Parenting Trap – Part 4 to understand the importance of this question)
For example, a nutritious breakfast might be a bowl of steel-cut organic oatmeal (this may be bought in bulk and is not expensive) and/or one soft or hardboiled egg, and one or more of the following: a banana, apple, orange, some melon the size of a fist, or two kiwi (or another real piece of fruit) and a glass of “real” orange juice with no sugar added.
If you answered YES, the score is ZERO (good for you!). If you answered NO, the score is 50.
Note: Sources for healthy protein: grass fed organic beef or organic free range chicken (6 ounces a day); legumes (peanuts are a legume as are pinto and kidney beans) or nuts such as raw or dry roasted almonds, cashews, Brazil nuts, pecans, sunflower seeds etc. (no salt)
7. Is your child considered obese? If you do not know, go to Kids Health.org and read the five-part post about Overweight and Obesity. If you have trouble reading, there is a “Listen” function. (Read Avoiding the Mainstream Parenting Trap – Part 5 to understand the importance of questions 7, 8 and 9)
If you answered YES, the score is 50. If you answered NO, the score is ZERO (good for you!).
8. Does your ENTIRE family sit down at the same table without a TV or computer or video game or cell phone or music playing and eat a home cooked meal at least six days a week; does that meal include more vegetables than meat and sweet deserts, and does your family talk during this meal and no one can get up until everyone is done? Is the main beverage water?
If you answered NO, the score is 50. If you answered YES, the score is ZERO (good for you).
NOTE—Learn more from CDCG’s Nutritious Food
9. Does your child have diabetes?
If you answered YES, the score is 50. If you answered NO, the score is ZERO (good for you!).
NOTE—Diabetes is a lifestyle disease. It is possible to Get Rid of Diabetes without medications. To learn how, read 3 Steps to Get Rid of Diabetes Once and for All.
10. What kind of grades does your child earn in school? (Read Avoiding the Mainstream Parenting Trap – Part 6, Part 7 and Part 8 to understand the importance of this question.)
- My child mostly earns FAILING GRADES and/or “D’s” from academic subjects such as history, science, math, English, journalism and/or a foreign language (PE, art, drama, chorus, band — do not count as academic subjects) EARN 50 points
- My child earns “C’s” or better for all academic subjects (never earns a “D” or a FAILING grade) EARN 25 POINTS
- My child earns “B’s” or better for all academic subjects (never earns “C’s”, “D’s” or FAILING GRADES) EARN 5 points
- My child has earned all “A’s” from academic classes every year he or she has been in school. (subtract 100 points from the total—WOW!!!!!!)
NOTE: Good, demanding teachers do not give grades. Students earn them by reading both in and out of school, doing class work, doing homework and studying for tests and quizzes. At home, a child should read a half hour or more daily, 365 days a year. Books are the best source for reading. Libraries loan them free. There is no excuse to not read. The more one reads, the more literate he or she will be.
EVALUATION—To learn what your score means, compare your total with the following grade scale. [Earning an A, B or C may indicate you are not an “average” American parent. This is good!]
If I were grading this quiz as a teacher, an “A” would be a score between 42 (A-) and ZERO (A+)—Congratulations, you may be an outstanding parent!
To earn a B, the score would be between 43 (B+) and 83 (B-)—Congratulations, you may be an excellent parent!
To earn a “C”, the score would be between 84 (B+) to 124 (B-)—Congratulations, you may be a good parent.
To earn a “D”, the score would be between 125 (D+) to 166 (D-)—Improvement needed!!!
FAILURE falls between 167 (F+) and 415 (F-)
NOTE— Childhood as defined by the law in America is to the age of 18, but it is possible that an individual will live to be 80 or older. This means he or she will be an adult for possibly sixty-two years or more.
Poverty and poor health is not fun.
If you earned a FAILING grade on this quiz and are unwilling to improve as a parent, why did you have children? Was it an accident? Do you know that love means sacrifice and a willingness to say no and mean it? Why would you want to poison your children with bad food and focus on too much fun instead of having the child work toward earning a good education that may lead to a more financially secure and healthy future as an adult?
_______________________
Lloyd Lofthouse is a former U.S. Marine and Vietnam Veteran.
His latest novel is the award winning Running with the Enemy. Blamed for a crime he did not commit while serving in Vietnam, his country considers him a traitor. Ethan Card is a loyal U.S. Marine desperate to prove his innocence or he will never go home again.
And the woman he loves and wants to save was trained to kill Americans.
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