There is a popular favourite saying of parents whenever
their kids attempt to play some certain funny pranks.
The saying goes thus; “what you think you can
see from the top of a tree, we;
that is the parents, can see it sitting down.” it is also said in pidgin; “The
thing wen old man they see, even if small pikin climb ladder, he no go see am”.
Meaning that the parents don’t need to
stress themselves because whatever tricks the child has up his or her sleeve,
the parent(s) already know without any need to hassle themselves. The
assumption is that since they’d obviously been children
before, they know whatever the
child will be intuited to do.
However, some parents think that they know
it all and not all the predictions are right. Besides there are so many things
that the teenagers of nowadays are
cognizant of that
their parents do not know or think that they don’t know. Especially with the advent of technology and
social media, it’s very difficult and
almost impossible to restrain the
information that the teenagers are exposed to on a daily basis.
Presently, we
have virtually thousands of social media networks, like the; Facebook, Twitter,
Pinterest, Tumblr., Instagram, VK, Flickr, MySpace, meetup, classmates,
match.com, Plentyoffish, Zoosk, okcupid, eHarmony, ChristianMingle, OurTime,
Blackpeoplemeet, Speed Date, Chemistry.com, amidst many others.
This
social networks weren’t live during the
latter generation. Most
of these social networks have some very corrupt and polluted information that
can really affect negatively the mind of a child.
I think it
can be agreed that the saying should be restructured and changed to “what a
child think he sees
while climbing on a tree, the parents will climb with him, or ascend higher, so you can properly observe what your child is up
to”.
The strength of teenagers or youth cannot
surpass the experience of age. However, experience doesn’t mean all knowing. It
just means you have a better handle on situations and problems when younger
people are falling apart. However, with
the newer innovations and the world becoming a global village; what was obtainable in the olden days, has been flushed down
the toilet of this
modern age.
Parents need to know that seeing while
sitting down is no longer valuable especially with the children of this era, teenage age; especially can be ascribed as
where the adolescence tends to be rebellious and want to hang out with peers
who are likely to influence them negatively.
In this modern society, parenting
teenagers is a very serious warfare. In times past, of the 18th and
19th century, teenagers dressing now would be classified as aliens
from other planets, who is a stranger by the people who lived then.
Even their new slogans, like, “Hanging
out”, “Mumsi”, “Popsi”, “Chillin out”, “Sup” and many others, defer definitions to the normal human
understanding. Most of our ancestors would have considered the languages, insulting or some of the
slogans as for another meaning entirely than it was supposed to be.
This is the period of shock, where you
will expect some outrageous suggestions and questions and to have decided
beforehand how you are going to deal with them. And the only way you will be
able to deal with such situations is when you are prepared. And
you can only be prepared if you keep up to date with situations and happenings.
This is not over yet, there is a concluding part of Effective Parenting. Stay Tuned.
