1. Is the process of growing up now the same as in the past?
NO:
Growing up in today’s world is much more challenging than it was for past generations because:
Social media goes hand in hand with giving today’s teens false images of ‘perfection’ and what is ‘expected’ versus what is ‘weird’.
• Technology is skyrocketing and everything said or done can be made public in the span of 5 seconds.
• Social pressures today are more powerful.
• The peer pressure that teens feel is immense.
• Social media itself is causing greater social pressures and greater risks
• Competition is much greater.
• Violence and danger are more prevalent.
• Present-day teens grow up in a spotlight, and that comes with great responsibility.
Today’s world is so focused on an appearance that many young people are brainwashed and manipulated into thinking that they are not pretty enough, not desirable and not wanted, which leads to depression and higher suicide rates.
2. At what age should children be considered adults?
Children should be considered adults when they are able to:
• control impulses
• solve problems
• regulate emotions
• organize behaviour
• take responsibility for their words and actions
• take risks
• earn money
• make an adequate living.
• Move away from parents
3. To what extent should children be independent from their parents?
Children should be independent from their parents to the extent which lets them:
• do age-appropriate tasks for themselves without their parents’ help and guidance
• be intrinsically motivated to work toward achieving the goals they set for themselves
• consider various options, and, with support and guidance of their parents to make their own choices and decision.
• take responsibility for their own thoughts, emotions and actions
• take responsibility for their mistake sand failures
• take responsibility for their choices
• have ownership of their lives
• have control over their lives
• have a say in everything that concerns their lives
• do what is necessary to maximize the
• opportunities that their parents give them
• test their own capabilities beyond the safety net their parents provide them with.
4. Do you think parents should be trained to be able to bring up their children?
YES:
Parents should be trained if:
• their kids are prone to challenging behaviour and are, generally, harder to manage than others
• their kids often get out of control
• their parent-child relationship adds to
• stress on both sides, and they really want to learn how to manage their stress levels and develop better contact mechanisms
• they want to bolster the skills need manage children’s behaviour calmly and improve the quality of family life.
5. How can governments ensure children’s welfare?
In order to ensure children’s welfare governments can:
• create special child welfare services which will give kids necessary assistance when they need it
• pass and enforce laws in line with international norms and standards, and effectively implement these laws
• review existing legislation to determine whether its provisions are consistent with the Convention on the Right of Child
• provide adequate budgets for childcare
• institute child-friendly schools, child protection and basic health services that receive an adequate proportion of the national budget
• build a protective environment for children
• involve children in decisions that affect them
• strengthen the protective role of families and communities
• train parents about gender stereotypes child development and non-violent forms of discipline
• ensure access to education
• budget for and implement early childhood education, commit to compulsory primary, secondary education and ensure an equitable access to higher education.
6. What do children need nowadays?
Nowadays children need:
• their parents’ love, support, encouragement, nurture, acceptance and attention
• acknowledgement and respect to their choices
• acceptance that they might do something differently from their parents
• stimulation and activity
• rest and relaxation
• responsibility appropriate to their age
• to feel safe and protected
• to have their physical requirements for food, clothing, warmth and healthcare met
• to be noticed
• to spend time both with their parents and friends
• to be listened to and heard
• to be understood
• to feel connected (to their family, friends, neighbours, teachers and pets).
7. For parents, what is important when bringing up their child?
When bringing up children parents should remember that:
• they are the most significant role model for kids
• children need consistency, rules and boundaries
• children need limits and choices
• kids are individuals.
When bringing up children it is important for parents to:
• be on the same page about parenting (idiom)
• establish a solid support system home so that kids grow up satisfied with their achievements and ambitions
• help kids feel competent and confident
• encourage special skills of their kids
• praise their children’s efforts
• spend quality time with kids
• show unconditional love to kids
• demonstrate trust to children.
8. Is sweet a good thing to reward them?
YES:
• if sweets are given as a reward very seldom.
NO:
• kids may start to associate feeling happy and accomplished with sugar
• kids may relate feeling happy and excited with eating sugar.
NO:
• this behavioural pattern becomes imbedded in the brain resulting in a life-long connection between sugar-filled rewards and that desired feeling comfort and satisfaction
• kids may relate feeling happy and excited with eating sugar.
NO:
• this behavioural pattern becomes imbedded in the brain resulting in a lifelong connection between sugar-filled rewards and that desired feeling of comfort and satisfaction
• it can undermine the healthy eating habits that parents are trying to teach their kids
• it encourages kids to eat when they are not hungry to reward themselves.
9. Do you think mothers and fathers have different roles to play in bringing up a child?
YES:
Mothers’ responsibilities are:
• to protect and nurture children
• to raise sensible, virtuous children
• to help children grow up to become productive human beings
• to help children develop strong moral principles early in life
• to make a child feel safe and emotionally secure
• to engage a child in various learning activities
• to teach children soft skills
• to help children develop positive
• character traits with love and compassion for others.
• to make a child mentally strong to face the outer world
• to promote a child’s well-being
• to support a child’s physical, emotional intellectual and social development
• to provide a child with support the need to become self-assured and happy
• to spend quality time with a child.
Mothers:
• provide a look at the world of women
• Fathers’ responsibilities are:
• to provide physical protection
• to give financial support
• to display healthy authority in the family.
Fathers:
• provide their children with a sense of security
• pass down a blessing to their children
• encourage competition
• encourage independence and exploration
• push limits
• provide a look at the world of men
• keep children on the right path.
NO:
• parenting roles are blended these days
• parents are sharing parenting role increasingly.
10. Do you think hitting children is sometimes necessary for discipline?
YES:
• but only for appropriate reasons
• to prevent dangerous behaviours
• it is a necessary part of discipline.
NO:
• spanking has little to do with discipline
• hitting doesn’t improve behaviours
• hitting kids teaches them to become. hitters themselves
• it doesn’t work
• it is ineffective and damaging for kids
• it does nothing but put fear in kids
• it can instil a sense of fear and resentment into children
• it teaches kids to fear their parents
• it teaches children that their parents are not to be trusted
• it devalues kids
• it makes children feel humiliated and angry tempting them to lose their temper
• it shows kids that it’s all right to vent their anger or right a wrong by hitting other people
• it gives an unfair message that “might makes right”
• it gives the message that hitting is an appropriate way to express feelings and solve problems
• it has bad long-term effects
• it distracts kids from learning how to resolve conflict in an effective and humane way.