Parents should go out of their way to build a relationship with their children; love and care will build trust.
By Elena Grijalva
It seems that currently kids of our generation are more reserved and are homebodies. Is this a result of their own wants or the restrictions their parents have placed on them?
Parents should give their children more freedom. Freedom should be given to children depending on the relationship the parent has with their child. This means parents should build trust with their kids by expressing love and care throughout their adolescence which will show the children there’s a connection between them which would bring trust.
Parents should create restrictions for their children to show them that they care. Parents should express to their children the qualities of a role model, meaning they should show their kids how to set boundaries for themselves. For instance, parents should teach their children how to acknowledge their feelings and their comfort levels and how to expand them.
The amount of freedom given to children depends on the relationship and trust with the child. A disconnection between child and parent would bring distrust because of not knowing what may occur in their life.
More freedom should be given to children as they get older to learn to gain independence. They learn from their own experiences with the world around them and learn from mistakes as well as an individual.
For example, from personal experience, my mother Jeannette Grijalva states, “I’m overprotective, but I still give my children respect but to give them the freedom to trust in them. I trust my children, however, I trust in their decisions because I have communication with them.” This means it’s important to create a relationship that has a healthy environment to discuss any topic and explore the values of freedom.
“Overall, I believe the amount of freedom depends on the behavior of the child and the relationship with their friends and the outside world. For instance, the amount of freedom given to my two daughters was around 8th grade when their decisions were more acknowledged with mine,” my mom expressed her last thoughts on the amount of freedom that should be given to children.
I definitely agree with my mom because if there was no sort of relationship or communication to understand or know that there's love and care taking place how would freedom step in? Freedom will be there to help them but to recognize the kids will be responsible to see the good and bad.
However, the amount of freedom may also depend on your background like your culture, gender, or ethnicity that affects this freedom. For instance, this data based from the Pew Research Center states, “There are also differences along racial, ethnic, and income lines. About half (49%) of White parents say they are raising their children in a similar way to how they were raised, compared with 42% of Black parents, 37% of Asian parents, and 32% of Hispanic parents. And while 51% of parents with upper incomes say they are trying to raise their children similarly to how they were raised, smaller shares of those with middle (46%) and lower (35%) incomes say the same.”
This data shows how the amount of freedom may depend on these factors, however, parents should open up to the idea and realize it is needed for kids to be out there.
Many may disagree with these claims, where parents believe children should not have much freedom. Due to the world becoming worse compared to past generations and realizing the world is becoming more inhumane. Society may take a toll on the children's health. Many parents may say too much freedom could get their children into making bad decisions or even drugs.
Now, even though these things are true, the world is uncontrollable. It's good to protect your children, however, this is why you create this relationship with communication and trust to let them realize what the consequences are but they get to decide what they want to do. Parents should discuss the consequences to help the children realize and learn from their experiences.
Children will take and learn from what they want and they will show this in their own way, but this will come from the love and care that was given to them throughout their adolescence.