Hey guys!!
I'm super sorry for the lack of posts lately. School has been an absolute nightmare. So many things are going on at the same time. Still, I would like to take some time to share this essay with all of you. I wrote this for a school assignment, and is actually based on an O'level 2013 question. Of course, although this is an original piece of writing, this version is edited by my super awesome English senpai, Ms Jessie Ng. Hope you guys will like this:))
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‘Ah girl, listen to mummy. It is better to be safe than
sorry.’ Does this sound familiar to you? How many of us have, in fact, heard
this line come out from our parents’ mouths in our schooling years? I have
heard this one time too many, yet I strongly believe that parents do not always
know best. It is with the same conviction that I say that many parents today
are overprotective, and youths, overprotected.
First of all, I feel that many parents today are more highly
educated than those from about 20 to 30 years ago. Hence, there is a higher
tendency for parents to think that they know the education system better than
anyone else, or more specifically, the child. There is a higher tendency for
parents to think that they have more experience than the child. There is a
higher tendency for parents to think that they know everything, just because
they are more educated than their children. But this is not the case. The truth
is, there have been many changes made to the education system since our
parents’ times. The truth is, education in the 21st century is very
different from that in the 1980s or 1990s. The truth is, many parents cannot
accept this fact. In a nutshell, this is why many parents are overprotective of
their children—because they think they know everything.
Youths may be overprotected simply due to the fact that
society today is very competitive. Most people have an academic degree, so how
can we find a job without one ourselves? This need for a degree pushes parents
to drive education towards only results, despite the teachers’ push for a
dynamic and holistic education. This phenomenon is obvious in the following actions:
parents driving their children to school, parents arranging enrichment classes
for their children, even parents carrying their children’s bags for them. The
rationale? Parents do not want their child to be tired and then as a result,
not be able to absorb what the teachers are teaching them. But what does this
do to a child? My own primary school life was exactly like this, and this
stayed on until I was in Secondary Two. What happened to me, you may ask. Well,
my life turned out to consist only of studying and nothing else. I did not
manage to form meaningful friendships with my primary school classmates, and
eventually I started to push everyone away. Spending recess with a book was all
I ever knew, and I never experienced what the social butterflies did. It was
not until I entered secondary school that things started to change, but that is
another story for another day. The main point is, a parent’s overprotectiveness
can lead to a child’s isolation, and is this a sign of young people being
overprotected? Yes it is. Why? Simply because they do not get to live their own
lives. A lot of times, children with a similar story to mine are simply living
out their parents’ dreams instead of their own.
Another sign of overprotectiveness on the parents’ side is when
a child is unable to maintain his own life. I am not trying to say that
children should live alone, but freedom should still be given to the child
where basic life skills like washing up or sweeping are concerned. Youths need
to be able to experience and find out the most effective way for them to do
things. Yes, we may make mistakes, but can parents say that they were good at
folding clothes from the very start? We are always saying that mistakes can be
made in our homework, so why does this not apply to other aspects of life? Our
parents cannot always be the ones who take care of daily tasks for us. As
youths, one day we will grow up and form our own families. If we only learn how
to do day-to-day tasks then, will it be too late? Overprotecting the child may
not always be the best way to prepare the child for the future.
On the other hand, I can see why many parents end up being
overprotective. How can I not, when my own parents tell me this at least three
times a day? Parents overprotect due to the fear of their children wasting time
going on the path of failure. They do not want to see us making the same
mistakes as them but what they fail to remember is that we all have our own
lives to lead. We have our own paths to take. We have our own mistakes to make.
While their actions are those of love for us, these actions may in fact
handicap our self-sufficiency. To share experience is one thing, but to dictate
life choice is another.
Thus in conclusion, young people these days are too
protected and this is not a good sign. Changes have to be made, and it has to
start from every parent.
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Alright! That's it. I really hope that you guys liked it and if I have any more essays worthy of your reading, I'll definitely share.
On a sidenote, HAVE YALL LISTENED TO THIS SONG!! IT IS TOTALLY BAE MATERIAL!! I have been listening to it since Valentine's Day, non stop...
I'll put the MV here
Have a great 2 weeks people, March holidays are coming soon! Jia yous!!!!
~jessykeejiayi