|
|
|
Parenting In Today's Competitive World
Parenting has become
“Competitive parenting” in today’s world. Competition has always been
a hallmark of parenting, and in today's success-driven society we measure
our child up to his or her peers. Keep in mind that your child is an
individual- and that's a good thing! All children take their time to
develop, and have their own particular strengths. So what if Tom walked at
10 months and Peter walked at 15 months? Global competition is real, but
so is the timing of childhood milestones.” says Michael Thompson, Ph.D.,
author of The Pressured Child and co-author of the best-selling Raising
Cain: Protecting the Emotional Life of Boys.
Parents are overly
involved in their child’s success both in academics and sports. We want
our child to be first in everything. The same thought is also in the other
parent, but do we think for a moment if all the children could stand
first.
|
|
|
Once upon a time in a land
far, far away, there was a world where children could play at being
children. Today, playing fields have become places where adults measure up
their children in the early phases of the race to Harvard.
We want our child to learn many languages, music, painting, swimming, and
sports. There is not one skill that the child is trained or exposed to
whereby the child is always running from one class to another, leaving no
room for him to be himself. Accept that he is a child and has to enjoy his
phase of childhood. The theory of “survival of the fittest” applies to
each and every walk of the society. So a question that arises in our mind
is how to bring up our children in order to face competitive world and
emerge successful.
|
|
Follow These:
• Maintain a happy and loving home environment.
• Believe in them and teach them to believe in themselves.
• Give the child his time to learn. Retain their uniqueness by not
comparing.
• Creativity and inquisitiveness is one blessing about childhood, allow it
to grow.
• Teach him healthy competitive rules but don’t pressurize him to compete
always.
• Make them understand that interest and commitment alone will lead to
success, be an example.
• Assist them in identifying their interest and do all that you can to
develop that skill.
• Stimulate and Cultivate the creativity in him for his
deep rooted desire will make him an “achiever”
• Inculcate in children the value of being self dependent and this can be
taught through example.
• Praise them often and openly, appreciation does wonders.
• Allow the children to grow and learn through the mistakes they make.
• Children especially during the exams need crystal clear communication,
cooperation, understanding and mental peace. We should try not to put any
kind of pressure on the child. |
|
• Library inculcates a sense of discipline in children. It also makes
them kind and compassionate in the sense that library teaches them to
share books and exchange ideas. So have a library at home.
• You need to encourage the right values and behaviors in them thereby
bring discipline. As an old saying goes: "The best way to teach
character is to have it around the house."
|
|
Lack of time is a
parenting issue that has come up in recent years with the accelerating
pace of life, and particularly when both the parents are working. For
parents genuinely hard pressed for time, simply speaking the truth and
expressing their feelings clearly to them, hugging the children often
and laughing with them whenever possible would be great.
The different roles and duties parents have to perform keep changing as
the children grow up. Parents need to be self-controlled, tolerant,
selfless, patient, generous, kind, flexible, and above all, givers of
unconditional love. It is difficult, no doubt, but it has been done for
centuries and shall continue for many more. So, let us teach best values
that will lead our children to live prosperously in life.
Contributed By: Indra, M.A., M.Phil in English Literature. I was
a full time teacher for five years after which I have become a freelance
online teacher, creative and content writer. I have a flair for writing
and enjoy writing on youth, women, and education.
msg2indra@yahoo.com
|
|
|
|
