As someone who works with children, I understand wanting to give kids the ability to make their own decisions. I understand how important having choices is for the development of children.
However, there are times as a parent when you need to step in and take control — exercise that veto power and slap down some very questionable decisions.
I don’t have any children of my own, so its not entirely fair that I preach about parenthood. As a child care coordinator at UTD Calier, I work with about 20 to 30 4- and 5-year-olds every day. Not only do I get to see these kids grow up, but I also get to see how the parenting styles of their moms and dads affect them.
There are so many children that act out for attention, but when you look at their household dynamic, you find out that at least one parent is basically non-existent. Not because they skipped out on their family, but because their careers keep them away from their kids. When those parents do get to see their children, they feel guilty about not spending enough time with them and let the kids do what they want, giving them everything.
That does nothing but make our jobs as teachers harder. These kids are so used to getting their way that they always expect it.
Not all the parents are bad. You see a few that seem to get it and it shows in their kids. In most cases, the kids that give you the least amount of stress during the day have the most awesome parents.
The best sign of how awesome a kid has it at home is how quickly they leave. Those that have a non-existent parent are more reluctant to leave school. While those with awesome parents run into their parent’s arms every single day because they can’t wait to go home.
As far as I can tell, parenting is hard. There is no clear-cut way to parent, but there are instances where something should tell you to step up and take some action.
On Saturday, I was eating outside of a Twisted Root, when I noticed a young boy playing bean bags with his brother. He looked to be 8 or 9 years old. I was troubled by his appearance. He had a design shaved into his hair that resembled the arrow on the head of “Avatar: The Last Air Bender.” He also was wearing a large T-shirt, that said something to the effect of, “SWAG SWAG SWAG.”
Despite my personal disposition, I didn’t see anything wrong with those two things. What I did have an issue with was that he also had both of his ears pierced and was wearing two gigantic diamond studs. He looked absolutely ridiculous — think “Malibu’s Most Wanted,” but an 8-year-old.
You can’t give kids 100 percent freedom from the beginning. It has to be given gradually. They have to make smaller mistakes and learn before they are given bigger responsibility over their choices. At 8 years old, no kid is going to know what is in his best interest. They should be able to make smaller decisions on their own, but ear piercings? I don’t think so.
