1. What advice do parents usually give to children?
Parents usually advise their kids to:
• never stop reading and learning (because the more they read and learn the more they’ll open their mind to a wide range of possibilities)
• be open-minded and receptive to learning from life situations (both positive and negative)
• learn from the mistake
• team up and work with others toward common goals (in order to instill in them tolerance for divergent views, empathy and the will to take other people’s thoughts and feelings into account)
• resolve disagreements amicably
• stand up for themselves
• speak what’s on their mind boldly and respectfully
• communicate effectively
• apologize when they are wrong and forgive when they are wronged
• move past hurts and wrong doings
• show kindness and lend a helping hand whenever they can (in order to help them develop compassion and understand the difference between wants and needs in life)
• remain positive and focus more on the brighter side of life
• extract joy and happiness from ‘little’ things in life, like a beautiful sunset or wonderful family
• protect the environment and care for animals (in order to help them become mindful and protective of the planet and all that is in it)
• be thankful for what they have
• never give up
• admit mistakes
• take care of their physical health
• listen before they speak
• spend time with people they love
• find what they love to do and pursue it with all their heart
• never compare themselves to others
• be grateful
• learn new lessons, them get back and try again
• have outrageous dreams
• let no one violate what they hold as important
• cultivate and nurture friendships
• follow their intuition.
Parents usually advise their kids not to:
• be quick to judge people
• complain
• stress so much over decisions (they needn’t be forever)
• worry too much about what other people think.
2. Should parents give advice to help you decide what friends do you make?
YES:
Parents should give children advice to help them decide what friends they make because:
• parents have life experience and can see something their kids can’t
• it can protect kids from unhealthy and possibly toxic relationships
• it’s natural for parents to do their best to protect their kids from bad influence.
NO:
Parents shouldn’t give children advice to help them decide what friends they make because:
• it can often do more harm than good
• it won’t help them nature positive relationships in the future
• it can create anxiety or resentment
• it can break good parents-child relationships.
3. Do you prefer advice from your family or your friends?
From family because they:
• will never betray me
• will never harm me
• will help me wholeheartedly in any situation
• will always give me rational advice
• are always there for me
• are very reliable
• have more life experience.
From friends because they:
• think like me
• are going through the same or similar experiences
• understand my urge to do something rash and irrational
• are from the same generation and will not judge me
• will never know criticise or reprimand me
• know all my ambitions and passions.
4. Which do you think is better, advice from young people or advice from older people?
Advice from old people because they:
• have a richer life experience
• have learned many important lessons over the course of life
• know what matters in life and what doesn’t
• have already experienced something similar
• can not only give advice but also provide support along the path.
Advice from young people because they:
• are more flexible than older people
• are more aware of state-of-the-art technology than older people
• are more open-minded than older people.
5. Why do so many young people not accept the advice of older people?
Reasons:
Because of:
• a generation gap
• peer pressure
• influence of advanced technology.
Because young people:
• consider that skills and method of the older generation are impractical and inappropriate for our fast-paces
• trust the Internet and social network more.
6. When somebody gives you some advice, do you usually follow this advice or do you usually insist on your own opinion?
Follow this advice if I:
• got it from an expert
• consider it to be good
• trust the person who gave it to me
• don’t have any other ideas what to do in this situation.
Insist on my own opinion if:
• I trust my opinion more than the advice I received
• I don’t feel that this advice is better than my own opinion
• my experience in the sphere is richer than that of the person who gave the advice.
7. In general, what kind of person is most suitable for giving advice to others?
The person who:
• can listen constructively, attempting to hear all the aspects of the situation
• is experienced enough to give advice
• is honest
• avoids judging
• is guided by wisdom
• is trustworthy and steadfast
• is confident and optimistic
• is compassionate.
8. Some people find it easier to accept advice than other people do. Why do you think there is this difference?
It is difficult for people to accept advice if they:
• perceive their reality differently from the way others see it
• are afraid of the unknown
• are afraid to leave their comfort zone
• don’t want or are not ready for positive changes
• mistakenly assume that they can handle the situation themselves
• are stubborn
• don’t trust those people who give advice to them.