Overindulgence is poison

In these two pieces of news, what makes the whole thing different are the children themselves. However, the results are actually different. The little boy makes his family better and shows us a kind of inspiring spirit while the teenager’s behavior only makes people annoyed and worried about the present situation where children in some one-child families are considered to be little emperors and princesses. The news tells us the truth and at the same time we see the problems of some spoiled children. As a matter of fact, there are many more examples like this. There is a program called “Bian xing ji, which literally means The Story of Transformation Broadcasting on TV, which is very popular among teenage audiences. The program is a kind of “rue man” show. The protagonists in the show are extremely rebellious and willful teenagers whose parents can’t handle them. By signing up for their problems, the parents get some relief and hope that the program can change their children. The program then will choose teenagers of a similar age who live an uneasy life in a rural area and lets them swap homes with the teenagers born with silver spoons. The aim of the program is to make the rebellious teenagers live in a difficult situation and learn how to deal with difficulties. In this way, the teenagers are expected to change their points of view, become less rebellious and self-centered.

Now let’s ask the question on whether this kind of program really helps change a teenager’s character aside. What we must be concerned with is why teenagers become like this. What is the main source contributing to conceited character? Who is to blame? There is some common ground in these examples. Teenagers are growing up in some well-off family, in which the parents are busy making money and have little time to spend with their children. The teenagers feel lost most of the time and they hate school and like challenging any rules. When they do something out of others’ expectation and means they will receive attention, they feel great and self-important. Thus, this abnormal sense of satisfaction feeds their vanity and starts a vicious circle. However, in this crucial period of their growth, their parents are absent. They are too late to haul back their children’s impulsive minds. That’s why their children become so hard to deal with. The parents should have spent much more time with them and gotten to know more about them.

Being a teacher, I have seen a number of these teenagers in school and they share these similarities. Sometimes a few kinds words and care will work but most of the time the educational process takes time. You can not expect someone to change his character in a short time and the most important thing is that their parents should consider the consequences and responsibility. Loving children isn’t wrong. However, if we love them in an ultimate and unsensible way, we will receive an opposite result. Overindulgence is not love but poison to a young mind.

The original blog is: http://blog.chinadaily.com.cn/blog-245256-26439.html