Sunday, November 13, 2011

I Wonder

Increasingly, I find myself wondering exactly what kind of life skills is the coming generation developing. It is a generation which hasn't experienced any deprivation, struggle and doesn't know the meaning of the word `want'. Whatever they desire parents buy it for them really quickly. I am talking of my daughter's generation, which has everything and everybody (including the parents) in their pockets.

It is not just me but I find a number of my friends also having exactly the same thoughts. Our generation had to work hard for life's luxuries and we were not spoilt for choice. Almost all the kids in my class used almost the same pencil, erasers (we used to call it rubber then), sharpner, geomtry box etc. I travelled by air for the first time when I was around 25 years old and it was a professional paid-for-trip. My daughter sat inside an aircraft for the first time when she was just six months old. I travelled to the Europe for the first time when I was around 30 years old, my daughter celebrated her 10th birthday in London this year. I hadn't seen the world so I was happy in my little world while growing up. I wish my daughter didnt have so many choices in everything. If she buys Hannah Montana pencil box one day, she wants Barbie pencil and so on.

I find this generation just not equipped to handle life pressures, disappointments and rejections. They have it too easy which is why a slight variation or disturbance can totally disintegrate them. I feel my daughters generation takes a lot for granted and the kids in general are just used to demanding things and not working for them.
This will definitely have negative impact in future but as a parent I feel I hardly have any options. What can I do:

1. Try to lead with example. I have had to work exceedingly hard to reach wherever I am today. Nothing, absolutely nothing, has come easy in my life. Don't know what more can I do to instill the tenet of hard work in my daughter.

2. Insist on discipline: Tried this. And thanks to my being a working woman this doesnt work that well. I tend to go soft for about a week if I am late from work one day.

1 comment:

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