I am the oldest child from my parent’s three kids. My sister turns sixteen this summer and my brother will be 8 in the winter, and if there’s something I know me and other eldest kids of their families share is the treat of observing how our younger siblings grow. It also doesnt just include wathing them grow up either, i mean more of watching their character or attitude build and still even better, watching our parents treat all younger kids different than they did us. At times it even seems unfair for some of us to have to put up with how our younger siblings act up and not get the harsh punishents we did when we acted the same way as kids. I know when i acted up as a kid, i was put in time out, my toys were taken away, I received instant spankings, and even spent time in the corners of my room with nothing but the wall to stare at! I know fo a fact that both of my younger sibings give my parents a million times more trouble than i have ever given them, but I never see them in the slightest of punishments nor isolations that built me in my childhood. Sometimes there are moments when it seems as if it isn’t entirely you’re parent’s fault, and that maybe it is the surroundings overtime that may have changed the way families are raised.
Our Communities
Overtime, there has been many changes in communities, especially in the United States. The diversity in cultures and race are mostly now living together. Each cultures have their own certain ways of disciplining their children, some more common than others. However, it has now become a bit more troublesome to punish a child without being misjudged by bystanders. Although it is perfectly legal for a parent to spank their child, it can be seen as abuse or even heavy aggression for others. This aggression might have been used for children twenty years ago and was seen as something all parents used in order to control their child. But it seems as if now, parents are extremely encouraged to have alternative ways that keeps any physical contact between the parent and their child. Many methods such as character building through computers, or helping the child mature through chores are enforced because of the rapidly increasing number of young parents, mostly in their teenage years. It is statistically proven that the majority of teenage parents have the least amount of patience with their children and easily try to silence their child with yelling and spankings. This could be for several reasons such as stress from raising a baby and trying to stay in school, get a job, and try to organize their relaionship with their patner and solving their financial needs. It is because of this that teachers, counselors, and other parents try to advice developing parents to live a less phyical disciplinary relationship with their child.
Making room for Children
For other parents, there are problems that cannot be simply adviced upon and requires responsible decision making and organization. In the economy of today, many workers need to work the majority of the days of each week in order to keep a substancial lifestyle in a family household. This can lead to a problem in having time spent with their children, but there can be a calander that organizes certain days of the week that can be dedicated for family time such as Friday movie nights, or Sunday afternoon park days.
Other times there are parents that have more than one child and struggle to focus on each one. This can form stress, frustration, anger, and depression. It can even cause problems between the parent’s relationship, which can only be bad news for the family. For this there are solutions, and one of them is to keep school, clubs, and etc. near the family household so all their children can be involved in similar activities and locations. This can relieve the stress of having to handle all of their children’s rides and supplies. Another conflict from parents spending less time for their kids is divorce. The rate of parents getting a divorce in the United States is at about 49%, and 50% of their children are eye witnesses of the impact, and statistics show that these same kids grow up to never marry or end up in a divorce themselves. The impact of a parent’s divorce on their children is obvious and takes little common sense to understand why it would grow on children.
Parents Camp
There are also those parents that are just not entirely ready to receive nor educate a child of their own. This can be due to hard working parents, young teenage parents, or simpy “unknowledgable” of teaching parents. Some teenage parents may already have struggles of staying in school and raising money for an upcoming baby. In these situations, it may be difficult for parents to follow through with the money they need and would be incapable of acquiring educational tools and activities such as a childrens computers, books, and artistic utencils. However, such tools do in fact help children learn and mature by helping them use thinking skills an their imagination. Many families receive financial assisstance from the government, but there are several families that must look for alternatives. For these families, it is crucial to be smart about how money is spent. Money should be put into things that are needed and scarce such as food, water, shelter, and then the kid’s educational values. Shopping should be done in stores that have cheap prices like in Goodwill’s or the Salvation Army. Also, families can get together and form a chain of traditional toys that are passed down to the youngest baby as soon as a child outgrows them.
Influential Surroundings
In families, it is no surprise to see a child grow spoiled, even if it is not caused by the parents. Parents are not the only ones who raise the child, there is also the entire rest of the family that enjoys the childs company and tries to get involved with their life. This is done most efficiently when family members feel the need to compete for a childs attention. There is also the older siblings of the child. When the child is in the process of being punished, it is common for the child to turn to anyone that may protect the child out of pure sympathy. If a child is able to go to anyone for sympathy, there may be complications in showing discipline. The result of this would be for the child to always have someone who might attempt on justifying the child, which would slowly eliminate the whole intentions of trying to control the childs behavior from consequences. A grad solution to this would be to share a book of child and parent rules with the entire family, or even the whole community. Having a rulebook where everyone agrees on would make raising children a much more easier task because it would be rules everyone understands, and respects. It may even serve as a manual for newcomers of parenting. With this said, it is a key factor of having the assistance of those arround you when it come to parenting and educating your children. It does not necessarily have to with the parents nor the time period we live in, but it is a fact that the surrounding environment affects how our children learn and grow into the adulthood, and for some parenthood, of their own.
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