Some parents do feel that they have all rights to choose for their children the type of job they are going to do in life. And this feeling does emanate from the consideration that they were the ones who gave birth to the children, toiled to cater for them, paid their school fees, footed their medical bills, among others.
Now they feel like their children owe them their lives. Some even go as far as asking their children to live the lives they never had. Where some people are lucky to end up practicing their preferred career, some just languish in jobs that they do not want as a circumstance of necessity.
Career is defined by Cambridge English Dictionary as, “the job or series of jobs that you do during your working life, especially if you continue to get better jobs and earn more money.” People choose their careers at different phases of life.
It is good for every person to go into the job of his choice for it will enable him do it with both passion and pleasure.
This is what makes some people argued that parents should influence the level of education or training that their children achieve; the knowledge they have about work and different occupations; the beliefs and attitudes they have to work; and the motivation they have to succeed. Most of this is learned unconsciously – children and teenagers absorb their parents attitudes and expectations of them as they grow up.
Some parents are naturally domineering and trying to control every step in their children’s life. At times, parents view the chosen career of their children as inimical and lacking in real benefits. For that reason, they consider it relevant to intervene by choosing a particular career for their children.
Parents like their children, might also have had some dream in their teen age. Most of the parents fail to achieve their dreams due to family or financial issues. In such cases, parents compel their kids to adopt their dreams. They try to see themselves in their kids.
Nowadays, cases of parents choosing career for their children abound. Some parents are in the habit of deciding for their children the kind of jobs that they should go into. This kind of habit has more cons than prons. Although there is no problem if the decision of the parents tallies with that of children but negative issues arise in a circumstance in which that of parents differs with that of children.
The first problem that may come up as a result of this discordance of opinion is that the affected parents will feel disobeyed and less respected by the very children they worked hard to cater for.
This may develop hostility between the two parties and if go unchecked the hostility will negatively affect other aspects of their relationship.
In another hand, the children will feel less independent and consider the parents as bossy and domineering. This may take happiness off the mind of the children and occasionally make the children to be recalcitrant towards their parents.
If the children obey the will of their parents by jumping into a career that is not synonymous with their desired ones, they may not work hard to outshine and be outstanding since they will always be viewing the work as drudgery.
In reality, many talents were buried, numerous employees are depressed and various viable ideas remain undeveloped, all due to the interference of parents regarding the career choice of their children. Parents should be aware of the implications of imposing their own goals on to their children.
Parents should show genuine interest and support for their children’s career plans, they must allow children to uncover who they are on their own.
Some children fear anger of their parents if they pursue a career in music and sports as opposed to a practical high-earning occupation such as engineering or medical field. If parents do explain that they have no specific expectations for their child’s career, he/she will feel free to explore a greater variety of professions, choosing one based on their own preferences rather than those of their parents.
In fact, the world is changing and the dreams of each child change accordingly. Children should also be given the latitude to decide their career path and live their dreams but the real world experience of parents should not be totally ignored.
Young people are supposed to have a chance to make their own decisions and to live its consequences even if it means failure because life is not about passing or failing its about learning from our mistakes and try not to repeat them. After all we are humans and all humans make mistakes.
Parents should allow their children to follow their own path and find the career that is right for them. If they try to interfere and change the way the child does something they will end up with a career they do not actually like and will end up quitting or never getting anywhere with it.
To ameliorate the trend, parents should guard against disregarding ideas their children may have about their future careers. If they react negatively, it may shut down the whole discovery process.
Parents need to keep the lines of communication open, and motivate their child to garner as much information as possible on their career interest areas.
Parents must recognize that their role is simply to act as a facilitator in their child’s career journey and allowing independent career choices marks a young persons first real step into adulthood.