Dear Parents,
In the light of recent events, I’ve decided to write this letter, and I urge each one of you to read it, whether or not you’re a parent.
Report cards and Mark sheets do NOT decide your child’s WORTH. This statement has been repeated for over a thousand times, yet it seems to have no effect on the hardened mental blockages that have been created on baseless facts.
Every child is different, and has a varied talent/passion. The child wants to stand out, but parents want to push him into the rat race…WHY? Why does every parent want their child to be a DOCTOR / ENGINEER? There are so many other careers and fields of study, which no parent will pay heed to, unless it becomes the trend and creates a rat race.
Why do parents have to force their children with their dreams? Children have their OWN dreams to fulfill. If parents don’t understand this, it is going to continue for generations. Parents force their dreams on their children to fulfill, in turn the child’s dreams are broken, when he turns into a parent, he expects his progeny to fulfill his dreams. This will go on till eternity. This needs to STOP. Let a child choose the career of his choice.
It doesn’t matter if a child chooses to be an artist opposed to your wishes of him being an engineer. The world won’t come to an end. If you let him follow his passion, he will excel and perform with excellence. If you force a child to study or pick a career that isn’t his passion, you’re ruining his peace of mind and sanity. He will either break under pressure and commit suicide, or live his entire life in depression. Sincere request to parents : please DON’T RUIN your child’s life.
I want to quote an example here, which many of you might be aware of. In 1998 the world-famous cricketer : Sachin Tendulkar failed his 10th Standard exam. Yet today, he is worshiped as the God of cricket and the 1st lesson for the syllabus of Class 10, Maharashtra Board, is based on him. I can imagine what would the history of cricket be, had his parents forced him into academics and asked him to stop playing cricket.
Let your child choose the career he wants, as parents you may feel you know your child better and you know what’s right for him, but trust me, we know what our passion is and what we want in life. Trust your children to take the right decisions and support them with love and courage, and you will see your child do wonders.
Emotionally blackmailing the child into picking a career of your choice, or forcefully enrolling them into a course that isn’t of their choice, is direct and open MENTAL HARASSMENT to the child. This is what leads to them taking major steps like Attempting/Committing Suicide or getting involved with drugs, etc. Support your children, rather than abetting them.
The biggest problem with the people of our country is that they love to categorize everything. Categorize people on the basis of religion, caste, state, city, and so on. So much so that they have categorized education and careers too. NO CAREER IS SMALL OR BIG. It’s high time the country understands, that a teacher is as important as a doctor.
Everyone, wants to look down upon teachers saying “oh.. You’re a teacher”, to all those ; let me tell you this “If there aren’t teachers like us, there won’t be any engineers, doctors or any other of you” A child has to go through Pre-school and elementary school way before he takes up a medical course or any other of the kind. And mind you, early years is the base, which is inevitable and without which any human wouldn’t be completely literate.
Each and every career is equal and important. If parents today, don’t understand this simple logic, and keep torturing and demeaning children in regards to their score to supposedly create a bright future for them, Sorry to break your bubble : you’re just making your child’s future bleak.
I hope my words make a difference, and you understand the importance of your child’s mental health and peace. I leave the choice to you:
What is important?
Your child’s mental stability and peace or a hefty paycheck!
P.S : To those who choose “hefty paycheck” because I know some will, if you support your child in pursuing a career of their choice, whether or not you believe it, they will get you a “hefty paycheck” !
“Everyone is a genius. But if you judge a fish by its ability to climb a tree, it will live its whole life believing that it is stupid”
– Albert Einstein
– Manali Jobanputra