Often the airport is a place that gets me thinking about parenting. I get to observe the children who behave like slave master and the parents behaving like slaves.
I know as a single, my view is limited. I would accept that as true. However, as Aunty, I am privileged to observe many examples across the world, culture and circumstances. My sharing is from a composite view of all my observations.
I watch the children; I notice the absence of restraints. Kids do not naturally have the instinct to restrain. In fact the opposite is true – the instinct to act up / act out / dramatise everything to get attention. After all, ‘attention’ is a rare commodity these days.
Is restraint such a bad thing? The absence of restraint makes the world a less nice place to live in. At the metro today, I was watching a Mom who kind of ignored her daughter while devoting her time to her younger son. The girl sprawl herself across a few seats, and was in her own space. At some point, she behaved like a bully. There was no understanding of restraint.
To live as responsible citizens in a metropolis, we all must practice restraint. We all know too well what is the consequence of lack of restraint.
I truly believe children who have been raised with exposure to restraint will have a more successful future than those who have not. They will thank their parents for the discipline that comes from restraint.
Does restraint remove freedom? Ask those who are in the 70s.
1 comment:
Indeed kids these days do not exercise restraint. Yes they do have the intelligence to get attention. That they learnt at infant age. From early age they learnt what tools to use to make demands on parents & adults. What happened to reciprocal listening?
What happened to reasoning? Do parents themselves understand and practise acceptable social behaviour in different settings. Do they cultivate such appropriate nehaviour to kids?
Are they too protected by children's rights. Kids these days do know the their rights. If fact they do know how to use it to their advantage. I feel this law in some effect has rob them the valuable lesson of respecting other people's rights e.g. parental rights, teachers' rights & other outhorities' rights. Mind you young kids speaks a different lingo. Preschooler come to school using rude & unkind words to peers. Some event use threatening lingo.
Are they to blame. I feel sorry for them. Their parents have failed to do their parenting job.
Irony is parents are ever to eager to stand on their kid's side even it they knew the kid needs to be corrected. In this aspect I think animals are better at parenting than the human race.
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