I am usually pretty okay with what I see in new cultures...I have moved around a lot in my childhood, so I have gotten used to getting-used-to-new-things. But one of the things that I absolutely, could not believe was true was how little respect young children have for their parents here in New York.
I am not talking about teenagers or even about "tweens". I am talking about pre-adolescent CHILDREN! I remember being of that age: me, or any my friends for that matter, were scared pants-less of our teachers, parents and maybe an older sibling here and there. The point is that we were scared of our elders and we paid them the respect they deserved. Yes, there were cases where elders were abusive and did not deserve any respect, but even in those cases the most we could do was NOT pay them any respect - as opposed to verbally/physically abusing them.
Not to say we were complete angels who were tamed by fear, no! We had our moments of daring. It was a thrill when we could get away with spur-of-the-moment craziness. But I can confess that being scared of my parents as a child makes me respect them greatly today.
Seeing children behaving so disrespectfully and having such control over their parents was something that made me very uneasy, when I first moved to New York. Today however, I am very shocked at how parents actually put a leash on their children. Personally, I think leashes are for animals not for a human being. How is a child to learn and explore if s/he is tethered to one spot?
Two sides of the same coin or something different? I would love to hear about it from someone else.
Yea I definetly agree that the amount of indepence and freedom that American children have is too overwhelming. I remember as a kid I was petrified of my dad. Even if I was to mispell a word in my homework, he would give me such a stare that I would practically shake. If I ended up doing something bad, he'd end up taking me by my ear and almost picking me up off the ground and shacking me until my ear was numb. As much as I was scared of him, however, I respected him in a lot of ways.
ReplyDeleteToday I see many children that aren't even listening to what their parents have to say, and I blame the parents for that. If they want their child to behave, they have to take control.
Lack of respect for elders from children are not something that's just happening in New york but all across the world. I too grew up in Asian culture where respecting any elders was a must, but recently I have noticed even in Asian culture that it has been changing. It might be that there has been such strong influence of western MTV culture throughout the world and influenced children. But I would say that this is also more of social/educational issue around the globe.
ReplyDeleteMarried couples in general now days tend to have less children and spend less time with their family and their homes. I think this fact takes away the values of family time and time to properly educating them from their home.
I agree with what you say on most parts, expect for the part where the parents put leashes on their children. I see most that most children disrespect their parents when I was younger and even now in the streets. It dosen't shock me as much right now, but still some actions that thier kids do still surprise me. Especially when the children yell at their parents because they want a specific toy, or if their parents got something wrong.
ReplyDeleteTo me, it is absolutely baffling the way children act towards their parents in the present day world. Now do i believe just because someone is older they deserve respect? Absolutely not. Respect should be earned and not just given. What I believe the real problem is that kids have respect for the wrong people in the present day world. There is no respect to people who have accomplished something or are just simple, pleasant people. Kids have all sides of the media showing them some sort of rebellion to push them further into dysfunction. It's sad really because these kids grow up to be lost adult , with no control or morals.
ReplyDeleteI don't think it's only about American culture. of course kids are more demanding because of all the things they see around and want to get them. We had different generation of up bringing compare to today's expose towards children. Even though they are small and innocent but aren't able to control their wishes. I think it's better if we blame the changes rather than parents because all parents want best for their children whether they are American or not.
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