Parents know best

[reaperman]

Well, do they?

[Holster]

Yes i do...

now get back in your room! :p

[geggle]

Yes mummy.

[beowulf437]

Trust me we do. We've been there, done that and probably a few things that would make you say "Holy Shit!"

[ShadowNemesis]

Originally posted by beowulf437
Trust me we do. We've been there, done that and probably a few things that would make you say "Holy Shit!"

100% in agreement with you on that one beowulf:D

[marshmallowmae]

my parents......i wish i would have listened to them.

[Up_All_Night]

depends on the parents

I'd say, Father generally knows best

Mother is full of shit

[jmello]

nope, all parents are wrong.

[Up_All_Night]

children know best then

could use the logic let them make their own msitakes and learn and therefor the lesson will be remembered easier and ahve a greater effect

[Foxfire]

Originally posted by Up_All_Night
children know best then

could use the logic let them make their own msitakes and learn and therefor the lesson will be remembered easier and ahve a greater effect

Well if everyone had to learn by themselves most of us would be sitting on our asses in a cave trying to rub flint and stone together to make pretty sparks...

Rather than... sitting on our asses staring mindlessly at a monitor :p

The only point of parenthood is to teach our children so they don't make our mistakes... unfortunately we can't show them our stupidity so they think we are just trying to be nazi's and tell us to bugger off. Only to make similar mistakes themselves...

*shrugs* Oh well life goes on ... and one day... I will raise a sheep in my own image...

*goes back to trying to toilet train a sheep*

[Princess]

i like to think they do, but sometimes their opinions are open to negotiation... my parents are cool.. especially my mum... she understands that i am a person to not just a tool she can manipulate.... but i on the other hand understand that she's been there she's experienced a lot of shit and probably can make a more educated decision on some issues than i can..... we understand each other and give each other their space and freedom and we get along great.. my dad is a little harder.. but mum talks him round.....

they dont necessarily know best, but they know better thats for sure!!!

[pleed]

Parents know a lot and they have done many things, but what parents don't understand is that times change.

[jmello]

Originally posted by Princess
*snip* she understands that i am a person to not just a tool she can manipulate *snip*

my dad hasn't figured that out, maybe that's why parents don't know best..

i get up at 4am, and do chores, then eat, then more chores until noon, then stay inside for the afternoon, while it's hot, then get yelled at for sleeping all afternoon, when i don't have nay more chores to do until 5pm, and those last until about 8pm.. they eat dinner without me and everything.. after that, i get online until i get tired, around 1-2am

all of that, and i haven't gotten paid in 4 months..
i'm owed over 1000$us, by my conservative estimate, but i'm aiming to get paid around 2000$us, at least..

during all of summer break, i've left the house by my free will (grocery store and stuff doesn't count) three times, only one of which was an actual 'night on the town'.. a sunday night out with startrekker and soulman

it's starting to sound like this post should go in b&r.. hehe

[beowulf437]

The more things change the more they stay the same.

Even my oldest admitted to me that he should have listened to me more in high school. He would tell me "Things are different now." In fact he was just to wrapped up to listen to good advice.

The problems faced by teenagers today are really not that different than they were 20 years ago. Some of the things my kids have come up with are:

Kids are more violent today.
I was busted on federal weapons charges but got out of it because I was a minor. I had a friend who had his face sliced off. I had a contract put out on me by two of my "class mates" in junior high.

Kids have more sex today.
How can you have sex more than a couple of times a day. Come on, even in high school I was usually done in after once on a weekday.

Drugs are more prevelent today.
I had on friend busted for posession of in excess of 1 kilo of pot. I also knew a couple of herion junkies in high school.

Things are just different.
Yeah things are different but people are not.

I have always tried to be understanding with my kids though. Not everyone is the same and some people just have to make their own mistakes. The best any parent can do is try to keep their children safe while still allowing them room to grow and a voice to express themselves with.

[Poisonivy]

I always knew my parents were wrong until I grew up, became old enough to be a parent myself and realised how right they were all along.

~ Poisonivy ~

[Bostonmess]

Are you going to stop doing drugs then? :)

[oracle]

Firstly, beowulf437 some of those things you mentioned about kids today, esp. about violence, sex and drugs sound pretty harsh. I'd put it down more to the environment they're raised in (ie. USA) rather than their age. I agree on the fact that these things are more common in kids these days, but the examples you said wouldn't apply (as much, I think) to teenagers in other countries.

To get back on topic, I think "parent know best" is a pretty bad generalization, because it really does depend on how that parent was raised. For example, a large percentage of parents who abuse their kids were abused by their parents as well.

I also have a friend who's family sort of fell apart due to the death of a sibling in the family. His parent never really showed him any encouragement as a kid, and as a result, was never really pushed to what I think he could have been. He lost respect for his father, and is only now starting to reconcile with him.

As for me, I think my parent did a good job of raising me, but if I ever raise kids, I would like to think I will improve on how my parent raised me. Like I said, not to say I was raised badly, but I will try to work on certain aspects of my upbringing that I didn't like.

[Princess]

Originally posted by pleed
Parents know a lot and they have done many things, but what parents don't understand is that times change.

Now that I'll second for sure!!!!!

Isnt there like a parenting handbook that says listen to your child they're in a different world to you rah rah rah????

[wolfpac181]

If parents know best??? why didnt they use a Condom 24 years ago? Stupid Idiots!

[beowulf437]

Well I do have to admit that not all parents know best. As for my own parents I barely ever saw my mother and my father was raised in a totally different culture. I have known a few parents that I would like to slap upside the head.

I have always thought of my children as people, as they have grown up they have been allowed more freedoms and allowed to make more of their own decisions. That doesn't mean I won't intercede. My oldest son is 23 and has had trouble managing his money since he graduated high school. So I put him on an allowance. He turns his paycheck over to me and I give him so much a week. His debts are getting paid now.

As for my own life, I lived a very hard life when I was young (my father died when I was 17 my mother lived 1000 miles away) and I learned some very hard lessons. I have tried my best to keep my children from having to learn the same way I did.

As I said before times may change but people don't and many of the same types of issues that have come up with my kids have come up with kids throughout history. I have seen to many people really screw up their lives.

[Wolfette13]

I don't think kids raised in the USA have too many different issues to deal with than kids raised anywhere else in the world. An exception to this would be those children who are now and have grown up dealing with the issues of poverty, war, fighting ect. in those countries who have been doing that for years.
Parents do have a lot to do with how their children adhere to basic values as far as morality, ethics ect go however, at some point a child will start to make their own decisions in regards to their choice of what they believe is right, wrong, moral, ethical. I was abused as a child for many years while my Father was still part of our household and I never abused my children, my Father was an alcoholic all his life yet I am not an alcoholic, my Father also lied, cheated and deceived every moment he got the chance again I don't do these things. So in essence my childhood environment in the USA was by far not perfect according to "societial standards" yet I have made a "conscious decision" to be kind, help others if I can, tell the truth and be a decent human in general. In some instances children, because of the environment they are raised in are forced to act like a "grown up"
depending on the responsibilities they have the question is
have they actually become "mature" at a younger age or are they just going through the motions to stay out of trouble. Each human is different and I can only speak from my own personal experience.

[beowulf437]

Firstly, beowulf437 some of those things you mentioned about kids today, esp. about violence, sex and drugs sound pretty harsh. I'd put it down more to the environment they're raised in (ie. USA) rather than their age.

First off I will admit that I was the kind of person parents warned their kids to stay away from. The mid seventies was a different time as well. There are some truths then that are truths today.

You can never steal/cheat enough to make it worth while.

Lies will come back to bite you on the ass.

Don't have sex with anyone you wouldn't want to have a kid with.

Look at people's eyes when you talk to them.

Drugs will fuck up your life no matter who you are.

There is always someone out there meaner than you.

There is always someone out there smarter than you.

Take pride in what you do, because that is how people see you.

[robotoverflow]

What's bad is if when you were a kid you figured they knew best then later on realised that they didn't.

[dogwomble]

If parents are always right, and know best, then what about this (http://straitstimes.asia1.com.sg/topstories/story/0,4386,201927,00.html) ???

Sure, parents are often right in a sometimes annoying way. But occasionally they do get things wrong.

[Wolfette13]

Contrary to popular belief, parents are human as well and they do make mistakes as well as their children do. My personal hope is that those who are involved in the mistakes made actually do learn the lesson from those mistakes and strive to become a better person from the experience they had. It is tough to be any age from newborn to deathbed. We as individuals each have perhaps similar circumstances in what we are dealing with in our day to day lives however, we are not exactly the same so we cannot truly know how another human is going to act or react to a similiar situation. A few people I know had the best parents anyone could hope for as far as providing a stable home, food, shelter, encouragement, good examples however, these children have grown to be some of the worst humans on the planet. They chose to become the way that they are, their parents had nothing to do with that decision when the child grew older and started making their own decisions. I try very hard to treat others as I would like to be treated. Some days you are treated the way you treat others and some days you are not. Part of life, my personal way of moving forward is "ADA - Accept the situation as it is, Deal with the situation appropriately, Adapt to any change that may be necessary and move on with your life without allowing anyone to keep you in a rut that you really do not want to be in." (my humble opinion).

[Poisonivy]

Originally posted by Bostonmess
Are you going to stop doing drugs then? :)

My parents were hippies in the 60's, that in itself should answer your question fuckface.

~ Poisonivy ~

[gooey]

there are a number of parents out there who dont know whats best for themselves let alone anyone else.

my dad divorced my mum after 25 years because it took him that long to realise he made a mistake.
(that came from the his mouth too.)


i dont see how becoming a parent will give me any more wisdom and knowledge than if i wasn't to become one.

however from this i would make another generalisation:

parents know their children best

[Bostonmess]

Originally posted by Poisonivy
My parents were hippies in the 60's, that in itself should answer your question fuckface.

~ Poisonivy ~

Thanks deary ;)

~ Coitus Features ~

[Poisonivy]

Originally posted by gooey

however from this i would make another generalisation:

parents know their children best

Well said, I agree.

[Asmodeus]

I'm teh winnar!