1. The effects of allowing children over 15 to make their own decisions
In an increasingly industrialized, technologically advancing democratic
world, one of the saddest truths in this generation is that parents do not
expect much of their children, yet ever more is expected by them. The
childhood years of this generation immensely differs from their antecedents’.
Children these days are actually far more mature than what society
stereotyped them to be. Some children at the age of 15 have already decided
on what course would they want to further their studies in when they enter
college. Actually, allowing children to make their own decision at the tender
age of 15 has its beneficial effects, and society should accept the fact that
they’re maturing early without judging.
One out of many of the effects of allowing children above 15 to make
their own decisions without the inference of their parents is that they will learn
to be independent at a young age. This is because nowadays, children in this
generation tend to get really dependent on their parents due to the fact that
they get pampered so much. Actually, children should be nurtured to be
someone who is independent and not someone who relies on people.
Children should learn to step out of their comfort zone and develop
themselves to a broader sense of the world. Other than that, children will also
be given the chance to control their own destiny and become the sole
controller of what happens with their life. For example, they get to pick which
university to apply for and also the friends they want to hang out with.
2. Besides that, children will also learn to discover themselves better. This
is because one of the most important aspects in life is being able to know who
you are as a person, especially your own advantages and disadvantages. In
the process of discovering themselves, they will learn how to love themselves.
Usually, when someone learn to love themselves first they tend to be a good
friend, good family member and even a good significant other to someone
else. Hence, it will slowly make them come off confident on their two feet.
Children should also be given the freedom to try anything the world can offer
as long as it’s beneficial. Parents should not set a barricade for that, but they
should encourage them because who knows, their children might be the next
Whitney Houston if they tried out singing, or the next Usain Bolt if given the
chance to join the athlete team.
Furthermore, children will also achieve their desired goals and
ambitions. The thing about parents nowadays is that some of them decide
their children’s future without even considering their capabilities, as well as
their interests. What parents should do is to actually give their children the
chance to decide on their own future because it can help them learn and get
to know what profession to focus on, and also to achieve a greater knowledge
of the world. In fact, “Do not plant your dreams in the field of indecision, where
nothing ever grows but the weeds of "what-if."” (Dodinsky, (2013). In The
Garden Of Thoughts. Sourcebooks.) One of the bad things that might happen
if their children are not allowed to make their own decisions is that there would
be a big possibility the profession that they would want their children to take
up might affect them if it happens to be really hard to cope with. If parents
3. push their children far enough to make them stressed, unfortunate things may
happen. For instance, their children might start smoking to “distress”, pop pills
to forget about their problems, or commit suicide because they think that
that’s the only option to runaway from their stress.
To conclude this matter, children above 15 should actually be given the
freedom to make their own decisions because them and everyone else have a
mind of their own and early exposure to the world actually is not a bad idea
just as long as there are a few boundaries. With that said, society should not
judge a book by its cover. They should start accepting children as they are in
accordance to their maturity level. If these children are given the support to
start deciding by themselves or even solving problems alone, they will be
molded into a pillar of strength in no time.
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