A PARENT ASKED
What should parents do if they notice their 9-12-year-old kids playing, engaging in the company of kids whom you don't like? Rather what I call as `bad company`!
If a good community/company can have positive effects, then a bad company must be having negative effects too. Well all kids are God's gift and we should not mark someone as good and bad. But sometimes one really gets confused about whether to let their child play/engage in the company of kids whom you, as parents, feel is not ok. The problem comes when the child may not find anything bad with his friends. Or maybe he is not able to distinguish. What should parents do or handle such cases? Talking to kids helps in some way. Also making them realize also helps. But should parents interfere or not? Should parents strictly tell their kids not to play with this kid etc? What is the role of parents here?
Our reply
What should parents do if they notice their 9-12-year-old kids playing, engaging in the company of kids whom you don't like? Rather what I call as `bad company`!
If a good community/company can have positive effects, then a bad company must be having negative effects too. Well all kids are God's gift and we should not mark someone as good and bad. But sometimes one really gets confused about whether to let their child play/engage in the company of kids whom you, as parents, feel is not ok. The problem comes when the child may not find anything bad with his friends. Or maybe he is not able to distinguish. What should parents do or handle such cases? Talking to kids helps in some way. Also making them realize also helps. But should parents interfere or not? Should parents strictly tell their kids not to play with this kid etc? What is the role of parents here?
Our reply
Unfortunately, our children have a lot of BAD COMPANY.
First bad company is the child's mind itself - all kinds of temptations, greed, sinful, evil thoughts lurk there. How do we sanitize that.
2nd bad company is us, the parents, all my imperfections, weaknesses, ugly habits, hopeless styles, oh the list is long - how do I clean the home first
3rd bad company is the people around us - relatives, friends, neighbors - somebody is a bully, somebody an abuser, somebody a womaniser, somebody a sadist, somebody a manipulator, and so on - how to banish them from child's sight.
And then you have media - novels, TV, newspapers, youtube, internet, movies, full of wile and filth. Oh the world stinks. How to banish them from his life.
And finally nature itself is no less melodramatic: the koel lays its eggs conveniently into the crow's nest and the snakes wait for the chicklings and the rains and rivers flood a whole city out of existence - oh how monstrous.
Needless to say, your situation is one of joy and celebration. Society is giving you and your son an opportunity to understand life. There is no better text book from which I can learn about life!
First bad company is the child's mind itself - all kinds of temptations, greed, sinful, evil thoughts lurk there. How do we sanitize that.
2nd bad company is us, the parents, all my imperfections, weaknesses, ugly habits, hopeless styles, oh the list is long - how do I clean the home first
3rd bad company is the people around us - relatives, friends, neighbors - somebody is a bully, somebody an abuser, somebody a womaniser, somebody a sadist, somebody a manipulator, and so on - how to banish them from child's sight.
And then you have media - novels, TV, newspapers, youtube, internet, movies, full of wile and filth. Oh the world stinks. How to banish them from his life.
And finally nature itself is no less melodramatic: the koel lays its eggs conveniently into the crow's nest and the snakes wait for the chicklings and the rains and rivers flood a whole city out of existence - oh how monstrous.
Needless to say, your situation is one of joy and celebration. Society is giving you and your son an opportunity to understand life. There is no better text book from which I can learn about life!
Thank God you are in the company of Life.
warmly
warmly
Aditi-Ratnesh (Ph: +91-98450-45833)
Aarohi is an Open Learning Community for learners of all ages: Open to all kinds of interests, abilities, styles and content areas. Learning by doing what one wants, how one wants, and self reflection. Community to co-live, co-learn and co-support each other. Aarohi's Campus is in a village near Hosur in Tamil Nadu (55km fm Bangalore).
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