Parenting is more important than you think

"It is easier to build strong children than to repair broken man" - Frederick Douglass

It has become Mantra for some people to always say our beloved Fourth King's incredible line, "Future of our country lies in the hands of current generation of youth". We have been hearing it for countless times from countless people. No matter how talented, skilled and professional our current adults are, they will somehow be replaced by our current youth someday. Our country will be in the hands of the children we see today.

I don't know what parenting is, how difficult it is or how it must be done. I just know that it must be really important in the life of a child and, in a long run, the state of our country. I strongly believe that the love we have for our country is directly or indirectly expressed to how we treat our children. And if we treat our children right, we are treating our country's future right.

It is no doubt. Every parents will say words like, 'Boy, don't do drugs', 'Girl, don't loiter around', 'Boy, don't fight', 'Girl, don't date until 18', blah blah blah... It isn't too difficult to say that, is it? It is difficult to portray it. Young minds don't listen to words, they listen to actions.

Parents are too strict at times. But it is not parenting, I think. It actually teaches children how to find ways to survive their strict parents by telling what is not true and expressing what they don't feel. Some even says that parenting is like a prison. You give freedom to your children within a certain fenced boundary. But within that boundary, the children must be free to explore anything he or she likes. The children shall not be told what is wrong or right but have to be shown.

Wikipedia says, "Parenting or child rearing is the process of promoting and supporting the physical, emotional, social, financial, and intellectual development of a child from infancy to adulthood. Parenting refers to the aspects of raising a child aside from the biological relationship." Are we supporting our children in these aspects? And it even says that parenting refers to the aspects of raising a child aside from the bio-relationships which literally makes us all a part of care-givers and supporters for all the children without considering biological relationships. Therefore, parenting is less of a family-thing, and more of a gross responsibility.

Thus, I think it is one responsibity of everyone of us to think about making every children productive and giving them the support that they need. All of us are the parents of our country because we have it in our hands what our country must go through next. Should we do good things and show a better example to our children? Yes, we should. It is important. Really important, I think.