Children are God’s gift to us. They delight our hearts and amuse our souls. However, we can’t enjoy this beauty unless parents use healthy, spiritual and rational methods to bring up their children.
Raising children is a huge responsibility that God had given to parents. In Oriental societies, we have inherited traditions that older generations applied to parent-child relationships. However, many parents today don’t seem to use these old traditions to create a mature family environment. Parents deal with children as superiors, making them feel obliged to their rules. They don’t really care much about the children’s personal needs or even consider the different stages of maturity and emotional development. In this context, chances of mutual understanding are limited.
Many parents harm their children emotionally when they bark insults at them in public (or in private, for that matter). This treatment causes children to develop hatred and resentment that can lead to psychological problems. Some might translate their anger into short temperaments or violent behavior. Under these circumstances, we must understand that parents help in transforming their children into miserable criminals.
Adolescence is a very critical age. Teenagers tend to go through a phase of physical and psychological change and they need their parents to be understanding and supportive. However, most parents fail to positively deal with their children through puberty. Teenagers need special attention and patience during this phase. They sometimes can’t control the changes they go through which causes mood swings and disturbances. So screaming and punishing is not going to do them any good. Care, love and gentle guidance are in order.
Bringing up children in our current time requires a lot of effort and patience. Continuous communication is essential to build strong ties between the children and their parents. Learning how to listen to our children’s needs and never underestimating their opinions or minds are the first steps to healthy interaction. After establishing the basics of a good parent-child relationship, the child will never be hesitant to come for his father or mother for answers or advice.
It’s not something to be ashamed of when parents share their children’s idea no matter how small or simple they seem to be. To be your son or daughter’s best friend is something to be proud of.
