- Traditional Parents and Modern Children
Technology and modernity seem to have put parents and children on two opposing sides in the world today. While many parents would rather they stick to their traditional ways of bringing up children, children on the other hand have their own ways they would rather be brought up in other than what their parents are doing. Even so, the world today has no choice but to acknowledge the blend between modernity and tradition and both parents and children are left no choice but to acknowledge the challenges that are coming with this phenomenon. When parents are getting keen on getting to know and doing what is going on in the world around them, some children also show a significant amount of tradition in them as through their character and what they wear or do. But this is not to mean that there are no differences between traditional parents and modern children.
Modern children exhibit characteristics that were not found in their traditional counterparts. Modern children have a voice than it used to be in the past. Today’s parenting has changed in lots of ways thanks to globalization. Parenting skills have changed and today’s child has more rights than it used to be before. It will not be surprising to find a child who spells out their rights and determines what they should or should not do because the law guarantees them that (Cline 2006). This should not leave aside the fact that parents too have rights over their children, but the children are more enlightened to ask for them or even threaten to take action when their rights are not honored. When traditional parents are put under circumstances where their children have a voice on what happens in their lives or at home, they are normally put in a tight spot and the definition of parenting change. It is so because they get confronted with issues that may have never been tolerated in the past.
Technology is changing the phase of parenting and the modern child seems to have an influence on their parents. Many children would rather their parents behaved and acted in a manner that conforms to the expectations of society today. Parents also are trying as much as they can to ensure that the meet the expectations of their children. Parents can be spotted handling gadgets that their child recommends or has bought for them, so as for them to have a touch of modernity. On the other hand, traditional parents have equally achieved in blending in tradition into the lifestyles of the present day child. It is common practice to find children clad in traditional ware and even eat food prepared traditionally or that belongs to a certain tradition or culture. Seemingly, both are accommodative of each other, and this is a good sign that traditional parental influence as well modern day children affairs can coexist. It is worth noting that traditional parents and modern children may have their share of differences but many are the times that tradition and modernity coexists in either group.
2. Conservative and Open-minded
When looking at conservatism and open- mindedness in the society and particularly at the family level, there are share differences exhibited in these two contexts. Parents can be either conservative or open minded. A conservative parent is one who is strict about the teaching of things they believe are right and those that they believe. These parents will tend to be strict on issues concerning things that they give priority over others. For instance, these parents will require their children to adhere to a laid down code of conduct that center on their lives. Such things include dressing, the kind of friends to keep, what to study at the university or even the religion their children want to keep. Conservative parents normally dictate what they want on their children while disregarding the beliefs of their children and what they would wish to do with their parents.
Open minded people on the other hand are those that do not harbor biases and prejudices (Sheshadri & Rao 2013). These are persons who do not look at things, events or even other people while harboring their personal feelings and attitudes which determine the way they think about them. In parenting or in the family set up, open- minded parents and children are those that are willing to accommodate each other without passing judgments. Parents will look at their children and appreciate who they are and respect their views about the things they do, how they do them and their perceptions about society. Children on the other hand will respect the views of their parents while at the same time; accept them for who they are in the society. Both children and parents, or any other person who is open- minded, should be able to place themselves in another person’s situation and see things from their point of view (Lee 2009). Open- minded persons do not judge and also do not use derogatory language about others.
It is different to be conservative and open- minded. A conservative will always see their opinions as the best or even final without allowing other people to offer theirs. These two categories of persons, those who are conservative and those that are open- minded different greatly on the ideologies they keep and how they choose to view life. When a conservative parent thinks that they can decide what is god for their children, an open- minded parent would rather as their children to follow their dreams and even support them in doing so. Open- minded persons and conservatives do not seem to read from the same script, while one groups tends to think that they can make decisions that affect other people, the other would rather they make decisions while having the interests of the other people on board (Glombok 2005).
3). Traditional Family and Modern Family
The traditional family has always been considered to be represented by a father, mother and children. The father in this context was considered the family bread winner because society expected him to go out and work in order to provide for their family. The mother on the other hand was considered was the absolute care giver and caretaker of the home. Her role was to take care of the children, cook, clean and generally put the house in order. The children on their part were to be provided for, taken good care of and educated. But they were expected to assume the responsibility of taking care of their parents when they old. Children end up being the breadwinners who were expected to provide for their parents. As it could turn out, modernity could change this set up and in as much as the nuclear family has been maintained, roles seem to have changed because the father and mother are many a times family breadwinners and the care of the children, cleaning and cooking roles have been left to the nannies (Lee 2009). In households that do not have nannies, the father and mother share house hold chores equally.
Traditionally, it was believed that a complete family was only functional where the father as a man was to be present, the mother had to be a woman and the children had to be there too. Today, in the advent of gay marriages, it is not surprising to find two men who are married and have adopted children. Also, two women can officially get married, get help in getting children say through surrogacy or adoption and run their family just like it happened in the traditional setup. Today, homosexuals provide a two parent home just like it is in the traditional setup. Traditionally, a family was supposed to offer an enabling environment for children to grow in a healthy way without lacking in anything (Lee 2009). As homosexuals are proving it, they too can provide a stable home for their children, and these children may never lack emotionally or financially. It is not a must that a man and a woman come together to start a family, men can come together and start a family and run it just like traditional couples do, women too can do the same. In as much these couples have not yet been fully embraced in present day society, they are there and continue to prove to the world that whatever traditional families can do, they will do it even better (Fagan 2010).
References
Cline, F. & Fay, Jim. (2006). Parenting With Love and Logic: Teaching Children Responsibility. Colorado Springs: NAVPRESS.
Fagan, P. (2010). The Family GDP: How Marriage and Fertility Drive the Economy. The Family in America. 24(2), 135-149.
Glombok, Susan. (2005). Parenting: What Really Counts? New York: Taylor & Francis.
Lee, N. (2009). The Parenting Book. London: Alpha Publishing.
Sheshadri, S. & Rao, Nirupama. (2013). Parenting: The Art and Science of Nurturing. Delhi: Byword Books.
