I wonder if there is a correct way of raising kids. As I was sitting amongst a bunch of kids in their early teens, most of them had the newest gadgets and were preoccupied playing the latest games. Among those kids was one kid doing his homework. He looked like such a diligent worker so I asked him, "hey, do you like to study?" And he goes, "no" but he wants to finish it so he doesn't have to do it at home. Everyone else was just focused on playing games.
I wonder if the reason why is because he's actually a really disciplined kid or because his father never bought him a gadget to play with which forces him to do his work.
While the other kids were talking about their newest apple products and how many they have, this studious looking kid and turns to them and says, "I don't have any 'I' products. Nobody in my family has 'I' products."
So the other kid who had an iPod Touch 2 that he no longer uses anymore says, "maybe I can give you my old iPod because i have the newest iPod." The kid turned around with a smile and said, "If you do give me, don't tell my dad because he will throw it in the garbage because he doesn't want us playing games at all, he wants us to study." So someone else goes, "then there's no point of giving it to you." And he goes, "no, I will play with it in my room at night when everyone is sleeping."
This made me think: what's better? To deprive a kid of what everyone else has or go along with what society is teaching the kids?
Aw that is precious!!! I think u should do 50/50
ReplyDeleteI think that last line is asking the wrong question - Deprivation implicates that a necessity is missing, but American standards warrant us to use the word "deprive" for things that really aren't necessary, but that everyone has - like toys and extra clothes, etc. Perhaps maybe instead of looking at whether or not the kid should have an iPod or not, we look at how the kids treat another and treat authority when they are playing their iPods or studying. Is the toy simply a tool through which they can play with other kids, or do they idolize the toy to the point of disobeying authority (e.g. parents/teachers) when the kids are told to give it up?
ReplyDeleteJust some initial thoughts =)