Complexity Of Parenting In The 21st Century. A Teacher's Perspective

Complexity Of Parenting In The 21st Century

I have read through virtually all the posts on this week's prompt and virtually everyone is writing on parenting styles. So I decided to also submit my thoughts on it

I have been in the classroom as a teacher for almost a decade. I have seen different kinds of behaviours in young people. One thing I have observed during these years is the changes in the behaviour of young people. Ten years ago, young school students were adherent to instructions and they were all eager to learn, having a feeling of remorse whenever they failed to do their responsibilities and above all, they were receptive to reprimands. However, I began to observe great changes and lapses among young school children, especially some five years ago. This breed of children is totally different in everything. They are the direct opposite of their predecessors. Having carefully observed this, I wouldn't need a seer to tell me that times have changed; hence, everything, as well as approaches to teaching and training them, have to change as well. One of the things I wouldn't fail to include in this write-up is the fact that parents to the children of that time are also very different from the ones we're having today. Why am I saying this? Ten years ago when I began to teach, none of the parents of the children came to school to challenge any teacher for flogging his or her child. None at all. As extreme and sometimes brutal as some of my colleagues were. But today, the reverse is the case. You dare not attempt to flog a child. If you do, it's either you're relieved of your job or the parents will harass you. There is a very big gap between parenting of the 80s and what we have today. This is evidenced in the character and behaviours of the children.

From my observation, the prevalent parenting pattern is more persuasive compared to the controlling pattern of the 80s. As a result of this, it has affected the teaching modus operandi. At some points, you do not shout at a student. If that happens, either he would react negatively or develop feelings of dislike towards you as a teacher. So, in this case, you have to persuade them and also do things that will make them like you and all of that. This is the reality of parenting that we are facing today. Unlike the other epochs, extant parents seem to develop much affinity and likeness towards their children. The love is so much that they happen to over-pamper them, hence going to the extent of giving them whatever they want, not minding if those things are detrimental to them or not. When I began teaching, I hardly saw the senior students coming to school with lunch boxes. But today even the most senior students can't come to school without carrying food boxes. This is one of the reasons why they cannot endure pain and hard times.

So a whole lot has changed. It is a very complicated situation for some parents who were trained in the 80s to adopt this new trend of parenting. This is what most parents are going through. It is difficult to change the mindset of a person who was corrected with flogging during his time as a child to believe in the principle of not flogging a child. In all of this, parents should look at their children and adopt a parenting pattern that is fit for each of their children.

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