#150 Today’s parents do not understand
children as well as parents understood children about 50 years ago.
Over the past few decades, ways of
parenting have altered, and it has been argued whether today’s parents do not
understand children as well as parents understood children about 50 years ago.
Some might agree with the statement by saying that today’s parents don’t spend less time with their children than parents did in the
past. Meanwhile, others might have different ideas and opinions. However, I am
deeply convinced that today’s parents actually understand children more than parents did approximately 50 years
ago. In fact, I have a couple of reasons to strengthen my assertion. I will
explain and develop them in the next following paragraphs.
First of all, developed social media grant parents the opportunity to learn about the
characteristics and variety of typical children. Television programs, social
media status, Internet bloggers or more shares
stories about parenting and the solutions to every problem within a family with
each other. This technological development such as
parenting channels on television or digital parenting guidance magazines has
expanded the knowledge and understanding of parents about their children.
Although some people might argue that today’s parents spend less time with
their children and more time on their individual tasks
or jobs in comparison with the parents in the past, parents 50 years ago only spent more time with their children doing
family business like, farming or family business meetings, rather than having
long hours of honest communication. To give an example of this, when my
little brother was born, I was known for being a troublemaker in town. I would
play harsh games with my friends, start fights in
school and make a mess at home. My mom and dad didn’t spend much time with me
because they were always busy either working late or taking care of my baby
brother. One day, I went out to fly my kite in the park without my mom’s
permission and lost my way. I was lost for hours
until the police found me and took me home. At home, I had a long talk with my grandfather.
He told me about his childhood. He said he was just like me when he first had
his little brothers and sisters, and his parents didn’t understand any of his
bad behavior. His parents didn’t have any books or social media to study and
read about children’s unusual behavior. Ofcourse, he had more face to face
interactions with his parents than my generation does today, but the parent and
child interaction didn’t include much personal communication. However, my grandfather
saw my dad read a lot about children like me when my brother was born, and my
dad was already expecting me to be jealous and make a mess just to get more
attention. I was actually surprised by how well my dad knew how I felt. My dad
didn’t punish me or scowl at me for not being
supportive because he understood more than the parents of the past,
despite the less time he usually spends with me. Developed technology connected
the understandings of parents and children and created a bond that was stronger
than the past.
Moreover, today’s schools also make ways to
inform parents of their children. As the value
of intricate education broadened, schools and educational systems communicate
with the parents of each child. Parents are able to know their children’s life
more than the parents 50 years ago. Although some people might say that the
cultural differences of parents and children makes parents understand less
about their children than the past, the bond of understandings between parent
and child has never been influenced by cultural differences. To give an example
of this, a survey was made in two groups of teachers. One group was full of
teachers who are very old in age and also who had taught children for most of
their lives. The other group was full of teachers that were very young and didn’t
have much experience teaching. When they were questioned about their students, the
first group of old teachers only remembered the children they taught but not
the parents of their students. This is because they never met those parents.
Educational systems weren’t so nosy about the personal lives of families in the
past. The other group of young teachers was the complete opposite. They’ve met
most of their students’ parents in school programs and have informed all of the
parents of their children very honestly. Although
there were some parents who didn’t do many activities with their children, the
young teachers’ job was to make sure they had a perfect understanding and
interest about their own children. Also, parents of the
past weren’t capable of taking the time to understand all of their children
because they had at least 7 children to take good care of equally. Parents
in the past might seem like they understand their children much better than
today, but their understandings and interest had a limitation due to the lack
of information about children.