Some Notes and Random Musings
Guestblogged by Mewa Singh.
Here are some general musings and broader notes/reflections that were sparked by my participation in the camp:
On Parenting – One thing I found quite interesting was changes in parenting styles. I don’t remember having had many choices as a child, when my parents were going to put their foot down, and it seems my own parents confirm this. With the camp, I noticed we had so many parents expressed their desire for their sons to attend, only to begin avoiding our calls as the date approached and telling us our son doesn’t want to go. Many of the same parents often complained – our son doesn’t listen to us and just watches TV all day. I was left wondering, how do these children have the choice? A parent has the ability to parent and limit the child’s television viewing, if they so desire. A parent is not helpless to say our child doesn’t listen so we must accept the status quo. Many parents desire to be the ‘friend’ of their child, or be the ‘good guy/gal’ and never say ‘no.’ With so many of my friends young parents, I wonder how they will be setting boundaries.
On Consumerism – Now members of our community are part of the broader society and one would hardly expect larger sociological issues such as consumerism to not affect us. Still the degrees seem far more now than in my youth. I remember kids having and even getting beat up and their shoes stolen if they had the latest Jordans. With 13-year olds having iPhones, 16-year olds getting BMWs for their birthdays (Jodha had a reflection on this some time ago), and wardrobe prices that went far beyond our $15 jeans from Marshalls, I wonder what are we teaching our children? Ask parents to send their children to a Sikh workshop or even Punjabi/Khalsa school at their Gurdwara and parents will begin about fees being far too high. What do we actually value and what do we wish to teach our children to value?
3 Responses to “Some Notes and Random Musings”
As a parent, I limit our children's TV viewing to the point where we only have a few DVD's that we play on our computer only once a week at most (we don't have a TV in the house). We limit their consumption of sugars and outside foods as well. They've yet to taste soda and juice is a treat. Some people commend these choices and some condemn them. I'm no expert at this parenting thing and only time will tell if we did the right thing. All of your concerns are constantly on my mind especially now that one of our kids is school age. I hope this trend of consumption changes direction. It unhealthy both physically and emotionally. Thank you for sharing your musings. It's nice to know there's yet one more person who feels as we do.
good going. if you can keep them away from sugar and tv, you're headed in the right direction. i spent my childhood growing up outside, i can't even imagine what the children of today who have an iphone and youtube in one hand and a can of soda in the other are going to turn out like.
A good teacher is thoughtful and inventive. He thinks about the best teaching techniques and draws out new inventions, that are useful for students.