Letter to Youngsters | Teen Ink

Letter to Youngsters

March 31, 2023
By omar_dweck BRONZE, New Haven, Connecticut
omar_dweck BRONZE, New Haven, Connecticut
1 article 0 photos 0 comments

Social Injustice Assessment - Final Draft 


Dear Youngsters 


Growing up, I did some questionable things, like every child. Afterward, I got punished; I was outraged by my parents for doing this to me and I felt betrayal in my heart. You might be thinking that I got beat, but I had little to no beating in my life. My parents didn't want me to be fearful or not to grow up properly. They took a different approach; this was to punish the mind. The worst thing was “I'm disappointed in you” or my parents ignoring me all day. Now that I'm older, I understand why and am incredibly grateful that I wasn't beaten or worse. I was also not controlled; if I fell, they would not carry me back up; I had to work for it. 

Although in today’s world, I see parents being too extreme or not paying attention to their children. I recently noticed a different ground where the children are getting attention, but the parents don't know what to do with them. You might be thinking, why is this so bad? The reason is that children need guidance to know right and wrong. If they don't have parents teaching them, the internet that children are on all day will teach them. Some questionable YouTubers are “kid-friendly,” and they teach children bad habits and a terrible mindset. 

I have experienced this lately; I was taking my regular karate class and decided to take the kid's class because it was earlier. There was this young boy named Adam, and he seemed like the standard eleven-year-old. Adam continuously tries to be funny even when it's not the time for it. I thought it was expected, but everyone got annoyed, even the kids that were his age. Studies show that parents who are permissive lead to having kids who lack self-control and social skills with other kids (Pamela Li). Adam was showing some of these features of lacking self-control and over the next few months, he continued and said things like, “are you serious right now.” This made me feel like he was just following social media trends and fitting in. However, this was concerning because it meant that he was being “raised” by social media. This worried me, One of the pros of permissive parenting is that children can be creative, independent thinkers and learners. If the internet takes over the child, then these benefits are nullified. Later I heard his mom speaking about how he's always getting into trouble and never listening. She doesn't know how to respond to his behavior and has no clue whether she should discipline him, or, if she should, in what way. 

Another experience I had was a young child who bossed his mom around and always talked back. I was sitting beside them, and nothing his mom did made him listen. This made me think about whether it's the child's or the parent's fault because if he stays on this track, he will be brainwashed by social media and be a follower of meaningless specialties. This means that the trends he follows from social media will get him nowhere. This also might be because his mom works a lot of hours, and she doesn't get to spend a lot of time with him. This means that he is home alone with his brother for most of the day. He also has his brother's phone glued to his hand, and his brother complained to me about his brother's phone usage. He could be a result of permissive parenting because one of the things related to it is that children cannot regulate their emotions, and this young child bosses his mom without thought because he lacks this ability.

Overall I have noticed that there is a lack of parental control in today's modern age. This lack of control is insufficient because it makes kids get affected by social media. This also does not set them up for a good future and causes bad habits in kids. This is important because these kids are the next generation, and our generation will have to work with them.


One who relates,

Omar Dweck

 


Work cited: 


Source:


parentingforbrain.com/permissive-parenting/ 


parents.com/parenting/better-parenting/style/permissive-parenting-the-pros-and-cons-according-to-a-child-psychologist/ 



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