CHILDREN

            Today’s prompt is to talk about what I would teach my children and what I would not teach my children.  Surprisingly, at still a young age, I have thought about my life when I have children.  What I thought about children nowadays is that they are so spoiled compared to children in the past. 

            Children in today’s society is spoiled because their parents do everything for them.  The parents might think that this is a good thing, that they are helping their children, but this is completely wrong.  They are doing the opposite.  Doing everything for their children makes the children think that their parents will take care of everything and that they don’t have to move a finger, even after they grow up.  This is a problem because when the children are babies, it is a duty of the parent to help the children, but when they grow up, graduate college, and get a life, it is their duty to help themselves.  It will be actually better for them if the parents don’t help them a lot.  Of course, the parents should help out in things that the children can’t do for themselves and actually needs the help of a parent. But for things that the children can do by themselves, they should do it themselves, without their parent’s help.  Even if they look like they are suffering, in the long run, it will help them.

            A thing that I will definitely teach my children is manners and respect, especially to older people.  I went to Korea this summer vacation and saw people my age, 16, saying bad words and yelling at grandmas and grandpas.  This just broke my heart.  I mean, how can they possibly do that?  Those old people are probably more than 5 times their age, older than their parents, possibly the same age as their grandparents.  If my children turn out like the disrespectful students I saw, I would be so embarrassed of them.  

            Another thing that I will teach my children is good study habits.  It’s not whether you are smart or not, it is how hard you try and this can be achieved only through good study habits.  I am a student now and will still remember this 12 year experience when I am a father.  I will know the things that schools kids need help on and the things that they should not do.  For example, procrastination.  Procrastination might not look like something big, but for me, it was the scariest thing during middle school.  I always had the urge to procrastinate, and I knew it myself.  I tried my best to overcome that urge but it wasn’t easy.  Fortunately, when I entered high school, the urge to procrastinate didn't come anymore.

            The last thing is to make good friends.  Some friends are only in high school but some last a lifetime.  The friends that we make in high school or college or anytime during our life might last until we die.  Friends can be a really good thing and a really bad thing.  They can influence you into good studying habits, as mentioned before, or influence you into bad things like bullying.  I would really make sure my children makes good friends that will be a good influence on him or her.