What's the Best Way to Raise Children? Issue 10 Home Page

Parents Need to Teach Their Children How to Behave Walter E. Hernández from El Salvador Photo: S. Peters Child raising is probably one of the most difficult jobs for people to do all over the world. Child raising is probably one of the most difficult jobs for people to do all over the world. Since babies do not come with child raising manuals, couples, especially future mothers, have to learn from their mothers, aunts, mothers-in-laws, or any other relative who is close to them. As children grow up, parents have to find reasonable ways in order to help their children, advise them, punish them, lead them to achievement, and to teach them. Sometimes children under ten behave inappropriately. For example, they learn to say offensive words and they show no respect to their relatives. I think parents in these cases should punish their children in a reasonable way. Children must know those kinds of attitudes are not good at all, but, sometimes parents never teach children who are growing up how to behave. These children think the way they behave is completely correct. This group of children ends up being bad citizens, bad parents, and bad workers. Society can blame their parents for hundreds of murders, rapes, assassinations, child abuse cases, and all kinds of crimes we can see everyday on TV news and in newspapers. Therefore, I think the different societies all over the world should look for better methods to bring up their children. Otherwise, nobody will be able to live near his neighbors in the near future. The Situation in Salvadoran Society There are many aspects which influence parents in this hard job; for example, the culture in which they live, the economic situation in their society, and the religious environment. In Salvadoran society, different ways of thinking and different economic situations cause different groups of people to perform child raising practices differently. One group is composed of people who do not have economical resources or education. In this group, people get married when they are teenagers. Children in these marital unions are taken to their grandparents' homes, so the job of child raising is done by grandparents instead of the real parents. If the grandparents are on the sidewalks selling newspapers, cigarettes, or magazines, the children will be their too. Because school is imposed on them as a punishment, these children often hate schools and churches, and sometimes they hate their own parents. Because they are raised this way, many of them end up being wallet thieves, gang members, drug dealers, and drug users. Other groups of people are hard workers and have some education. The children grow up in their parents' homes and are disciplined and punished differently. They learn to respect other people, and they are led to achieve in school, sports and community service. When they grow up, they often become political leaders, community leaders, and professionals in their fields. Children in a third kind of group grow up without missing out on anything; they have everything. Their parents are the owners of the biggest companies and industries. They often study overseas and sometimes know almost nothing about cultural aspects in the country. There might be small subgroups in each of these groups, but this is a good picture of how child raising situations differ in Salvadoran society. More on raising children: Thoughts on Raising Our Children Well You Remember More When You Cry Than When You Smile Teach Your Children Not to Hesitate to Make Mistakes The Key is Common Sense Parents Know the Best Way Both Success and Failure Teach Character Don't Make a Big Deal Out of Failure Kids Learn More From Their Failures Return to: What's the Best Way to Raise Children? | Issue 10 | Home Page TOPICS Online Magazine - ©1997-2007 - Sandy and Thomas Peters - topics mag@gmail.com