Point to Ponder

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If family violence teaches children that 'might makes right' at home, how will we hope to cure the futile impulse to solve worldly conflicts with force? Children are a wonderful gift. They have an extraordinary capacity to see into the heart of things and to expose sham and humbug for what they are. Parents say work pressure prevents them from communicating with their children.
The young, who are innovative and effective in communication, spend more time with friends and peers. They doubt their parents' skills in comprehension and try to avoid interaction. Their concern is modernism and liberation. This situation often forces parents to be too liberal or dictatorial - two extremes of leadership. Counselling to educate parents and children is a must because it is not always possible to recreate a studio setting, as seen on television, to exchange feelings or make confessions. Parents must think of new ways of telling their children that they care for their enthusiasm, ideals, goals and aspirations. They will then be more receptive to advice. Many children, especially adolescents, will blossom if they get friendly advice. In their anxiety to ensure a better future for their children, parents forget the basic principle 'give respect and take respect.'
It is among the commonplaces of education that we often first cut off the living root and then try to replace its natural functions by artificial means. Thus, we suppress the child's curiosity and then when he lacks a natural interest in learning he is offered special coaching for his scholastic difficulties.
Parents love their children and punish them only to get the best out of them. It is children who should respect the love shown by their parents, even if they are punished. The reasoning of many parents is "we were handled by our parents like this. Why not we do the same?"
This only results in aggression among children. If they are dealt with like friends, relations will be smooth.
Gopal Sengupta
Canada
E-mail: gopalsengupta@aol.com