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I agree, but you can't shield and protect them forever... otherwise, you get those Katy Perry types who completely rebel and stuff.

At the same time, I can think of many things a parent may actually do, in order to protect the virtue of his children. To think that you are powerless on this respect is a defeatist suggestion of the devil.

There are many parents out there who "throw the towel" even before the fight.

I agree, but you can't shield and protect them forever... otherwise, you get those Katy Perry types who completely rebel and stuff.

It's an incredibly difficult thing to navigate.  If you beat them down with an iron fist, then many do in fact rebound and rebel and go more crazy in the opposite direction than they would have otherwise.  I have made the decision to make some concessions because I sensed a brewing resentment and rebellion because they couldn't be like their friends (this especially from girls).  Girls are complete lemmings, and slaves to convention; if everyone is doing something, then they can't stand the thought of being considered an outcast, of being socially shunned, and being looked down on.  Boys are less susceptible to this kind of thing.  [And, this by the way, is why girls and women need the guidance of a good man.]  In any case, not to digress, but I made some concessions along the lines of their being able to listen to a bit of pop music and wear a light amount of makeup.  And lest you think that the battle is with "worldly" companions, the problem arose at a Traditional Catholic school, where their Traditional Catholic friends were "doing all these things".  There was even a teacher at the school who raved about how much she liked Katy Perry.  Now, I still have Katy Perry banned, but that's a side issue.  My point is that these bad influences were from Traditional Catholics.  So, it wasn't bad enough that the girls felt like outsiders to the world and to Catholics in general, but that they would have considered us more rigorist even than TRADITIONAL Catholics, and a resentment was starting up.  So it was a no-win situation.  But my prudential judgment was that they would have lashed back and gone wild in the other direction if I didn't let up a little.  It's like with alcohol.  I let my kids have a little.  That prevents some kind of unnatural fascination with it that college kids develop when they first leave home and get to drink (because it's no longer forbidden by their parents) ... and then they make idiots out of themselves with it.