Life today is very hectic, stressful and competitive. Parents have to juggle the management of their children as they struggle to keep up with their careers, errands and anything else life throws at them. In a world where a lot is dependent on what career you hold, and the choices you make in your formative years, one would indeed expect parents to be involved in their children’s choices.
This can extend to a number of things, such as the subjects they choose to study in secondary, the schooling and private tuition, the sports or other curricular activities, together with a number of different choices which may influence their future. Most would say that they let their children decide their own futures, however it is extremely difficult to imagine a complete lack of parental involvement.
In this article we will discuss some of the things which may happen when there is parent involvement in children’s decisions.
Schooling
Parents may consider different schools which may offer a good education for their children. In this respect, parents who are financially stable may opt to send their children to private schools and invest in further tuition. In such cases, children are not mature enough to understand which schools may be more suited to their needs and future. Parents who are well-off may feel that it is their duty to invest a lot of money in their child’s education to ensure that they will not be in a position where they are blamed for not having invested enough. Children will be pleased once they realise how much their parents invested for their education if they are successful.
School subjects
Parents may also have their say when children are selecting the subjects they will study. Will it be languages or sciences? Some parents may want their children to follow in their footsteps, especially if there are a lot of exciting job opportunities and said parents are performing well in that field. This may indeed be a good strategy if the kids end up with satisfying careers and futures. If on the other hand, the kids are not interested in such subjects, it may not be ideal to force through, especially since they may fail! This is all the more true when kids are slowly becoming adults, when choosing the subjects they will study at Advanced Level and university.
Sports/non-curricular activities
It is important that kids have hobbies they can turn to. They will need to enjoy such activities and not be forced to do anything they dislike. This particular hobby should definitely be endorsed by the kids and parents should respect that.
What is your opinion on parent involvement? To what levels should this extend?
