Do you agree or disagree with the following statements “Parents or older relatives should make essential decisions for their (15-18) years old teenage children?
I do not agree with this statement mainly because teenagers in the age bracket 15-18 years are capable of making personal decisions. Parents and older relatives should only come in to offer advice and guidance but should not be allowed to have supreme authority over the decision that is to be made. It is because it is generally accepted that parents inherently have the interests of their children at heart. A good example is when a teenage girl falls pregnant.
Most parents and/or guardians will generally perceive this as an embarrassment to their families and, as such many of them would recommend abortions under the guise of protecting their daughter’s education. Such radical decisions are sometimes made without seeking the opinion of the girl and the procedures are carried out using trickery. The resulting psychological trauma on the daughter as a result of the unconsented abortion may at times become too much to bear and cases of teenage suicide following such incidents have been reported.
The impregnated girl may also wish to procure an abortion, but sometimes based on the religious backgrounds of their parents, they end up being forced to carry the pregnancy to term and eventually stay at home raising a child that they were not ready to take care of. This leads to them becoming poor parents and, by extension breed irresponsible children.
Another example is when teenagers have to select the courses they would like to pursue in college. Most parents, and particularly those who have been immensely successful in their careers would like their children to follow in their footsteps. For instance, the teenage son of engineer parents may be very good in the sciences, and as such parents would like to see him go for training that will make him be just like them. However, irrespective of his performance in class, this son may also be skilled in soccer, and his dream is to play in the European premier league.
Given the chance to make decisions for this young man, it is obvious that the parents will, without a thought, enroll him in engineering school. On the other hand, if he is allowed to make an independent decision, he may choose to follow his dream and would most likely be very satisfied with his job, particularly if he becomes successful in the trade.
Those parents in jobs considered less prestigious have dream-job ideas for their children and would do all they can to make sure that such children grow into this dream. For instance, a man who works in the construction industry and his wife, who is a waitress at a local restaurant will most likely want their children to take up careers that are well respected, such as jobs in the medical field. They will, therefore, make every effort possible to ensure that the children they raise understand their (parents’) expectations of them.
This is although the children may be extremely proud of their parents and would like to take grow up to be just like them. If the parents are to have their way they would never allow these children to go for careers in either construction or the food industry. The children, however, if given the chance will select the careers that meet their interests.