Parents want what’s best for their children. But their idea of what is best might not always mesh with what their kid wants. Often parents will nudge the decision they think is right while toeing the delicate line between encouragement and pushing too hard.
Despite the best of intentions, pushing your kids too far could lead to chronic stress, which in turn may cause more serious mental health issues such as depression, something no parent would ever dream of subjecting their child to.
Bottom line, the most important thing is to know your child. Psychiatrists advise first encouraging your child towards things that best suit their interests. If a kid is obsessed with video games, then enrolling them in something that capitalizes on that interest while remaining wholly productive, such as coding classes, will be met with more acceptance than something like soccer camp.
Speaking from personal experience, my parents put me into Taekwon-Do classes, however, I really didn’t like it. So I simply told my parents that it wasn’t for me. Luckily, they were very understanding and I left the club. And yet, I didn’t languish, directionless. Instead, I spent my time learning how to freelance, which is still an admirable skill despite it being in a completely different category.
Conversely, a friend of mine was enrolled in Chinese classes by his parents, which he had no interest in learning and, simply put, hated. This was three years ago and he’s still taking weekly classes, but can’t speak or write Chinese above a conversational level, effectively wasting three years of his time – time that could’ve been better spent doing something he loves.
The takeaway is that when parents push their kids to do something they don’t enjoy, it will likely end up wasting everyone’s time and risks squandering their child’s potential in another field.
KEEP READING: The Ultimate Guide For Teens by Teens on Assignments, Pressures, and Stress
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