3Q Blog

Parent’s, don’t push kids over the edge.

2008-08-31T12:23:00.000-07:00

Stress is something that we have to deal with everyday, whether it is studying or having fun, the element of stress would always linger around wherever we go. This stress is necessary for our everyday lives but excessive stress could lead certain dire consequences with the worse scenario being suicide. Taking into context of the topic for this discussion, we are focusing on kids whose main source of stress derives from obsessed parents more worried about their kids’ academic growth than their social growth. Parents’ tend to turn their kids from a fun loving child into an anti-social, ‘monster mugger’, social outcast whose main purpose is to study hard and get good grades and then move on to perhaps the Ivy League and then find a high ranked job with a well paid salary. These factors are very tempting and with a comfortable life at stake, parents’ a re willing to sacrifice everything they have and even their kids’ social life just so that they can get a fraction closer to fulfilling this ‘fairytale’. Alas, while this dream is possible, not very parent is capable of transforming their kid into the next Einstein and sometimes they get desperate and use extreme measures to try and salvage the situation but in turn end up destroying everything they ever had. I feel the three main reasons why parents want to turn their kids’ into these freaks are: their own pride, comfort and luxury.

Firstly, many parents’ nowadays care more about their own pride than their kid. I feel that the main reason for this is that when they were younger, they were the more popular ones and would often be in the spotlight and they also enjoy being in the spotlight. However, with the ever increasing responsibilities of a parent, they are able to enjoy limited amount of this spotlight which causes them to get frustrated and grieve. As such, they try to regain what’s left of it through their kids’. However, by doing so, they put aside their children’s’ feelings and focus on theirs solely causing them to turn their kids’ into freaks that become the laughing stocks of the society. If their efforts work out, their kids’ might become the next Bill Gates and help them earn tons of money and earn the respect of the masses by being the parent of the richest guy in the world or he could be someone extremely smart and would help you earn the respect of the nation by being the mum of an ivy league student. But if things don’t work out, they might become a low paid technician or civil servant of even worse, a blue collar worker. This way, they would be dependent on their parents and would lose whatever self-respect he had garnered in his entire lifetime. His parents’ would also be extremely embarrassed as she could have become the mother of somebody important but became the mother of the laughing stock of the society.

Secondly, what parents’ are doing are also for the sake that later on in life when their kids’ move on to their high ranked jobs that they would be rewarded richly with comfort and luxury. But the oly way for them to able to make that breakthrough would be that they attend a top university and the only way for them to attend the top university would be either through sports or studies and since cultivating sports within their kids’ is rather expensive and also less rewarding with regards to them, studies would their only option. As such, these parents start at a very young age and train them how to be exam savvy and also all the many tricks that would help them get a scholarship into a well respected university. Their parents would turn them into studying freaks which could pave the way for them to lead a comfortable life or else be stuck forever with just a ‘could-have-been’ if not for the added pressure placed on them. One example would be a Singapore mother who walked into her daughter's room one day, just before the girl's final examinations, witnessed a disturbing spectacle that left her badly shaken. Her teenage daughter had emptied a bottle of glue over her own head. She was furiously rubbing one of her textbooks over her head and repeating to herself, "Get in, get in, get in." This shows the severe effects of what pushing your kids’ over the limit could do.

In conclusion, I would like to say that parents’ should try to find a fine line between studies and exercise and that their kids’ are humans and not objects that can be manipulated just for the sake of their own selfish gain.

Article take from:http://newslink.asiaone.com/user/OrderArticleRequest.action?order=&_sourcePage=%2FWEB-INF%2Fjsp%2Fuser%2Fsearch_type_result.jsp&month=01&year=2008&date=09&docLanguage=en&documentId=nica_ST_2008_7826322

“Democracy creates stability in a society.”

2008-07-21T07:38:00.000-07:00

I agree with this statement to a certain extent. Democracy is defined as a situation or a system in which everyone is equal and has the right to vote, make decisions etc. As mentioned, since everyone has equal rights, they would be able to vote for whom they believe should lead the country to greater heights whether in the economic or social position. This is especially important as if they choose the wrong person; the country would constantly have political unrest which could lead to economic struggles. When this happens, the economy would go down and many would lose their jobs resulting in the country going from prosperous to poverty. Democracy also allows people to have a say in what they feel is needed to be improved on or what is preventing us from growing. Like the feedback system which is instilled in Singapore, citizens are able to feedback to the government to let them know how they feel on certain issues and what they feel the government should improve. This has proved to be very successful as many important ideas have come through this system. Also, another rule of democracy would be that elections have to be held every 5 years, with the date dependant on the current government. This would allow the people to reflect on how the current government fared and whether they should continue or give the mantle to another party to show their worth.

However, I feel that Democracy does have its bad points too. As during the voting, the party who has the majority of the votes wins. However, the losing party might not be able to take the loss and would try to stir up some trouble to overthrow the winning party so that they would be able to lead the country. This has very dire consequences as infrastructure could be destroyed. The government would then have to spend time and money cleaning up and fixing the mess resulting in a halt of economic growth. There would also be much chaos reigning within as many would be without homes or hospitals to cure their injuries. Another point would be that if the people decide not to take part in the voting, it would not be a good gauge of who should lead the country and the weaker party might win.

In conclusion, I feel that democracy is like a double-edged sword which haves its advantages and disadvantages. But I feel that democracy is just a stepping stone towards stability. The major factor would be the responsibility of the people and the politicians. If the politicians decide to overpromise in a bid to win over supporters and then later not fulfil them, this could result in protests and riots causing the country to be in chaos. Also, if the people just want to vote for their own benefit and not for the country this could also lead to instability.

Teenage smoking

2008-03-06T06:12:00.000-08:00

Last week when I was going to have my lunch, I noticed a group of drop-outs huddled outside Bishan Junction 8 shopping centre smoking and they look no more than 16. This then got me thinking of the way now teenagers run their lives and the illegal acts they have been associating with. In our teenage years, many have often linked smoking with being cool and being in touch with our peers. Being able to sneak cigarettes around is also considered as a very cool act and also that the person would be respected among his community. I feel the main reason why this teenagers sought to this bad behaviour is so that they would be accepted by somebody. Most of these teens have been ignored by their parents and not being understood by others around them causing them to seek other methods. Managing to sneak cigarettes would result in them being accepted by their fellow smokers. They would feel as if that these people are their family and that they are the only ones in today’s cruel society that would accept them as a friend and equal. Smoking with them would also allow the individual to gel in with the environment better and also feel more at home.

Although many have stated that smoking is a good way of relieving stress, especially in today’s result orientated society, stress is like air, we have it all the time and smoking would help lighten the load. However, smoking is not a good way as it not only harms our body but also causes social problems. The tar that is contained in the cigarette is extremely harmful to our organs and we may even get severe lung cancer. Smoking is an addiction which makes us feel weak and irritable whenever smoking did not take place. This would cause us to create a conflict between relationships causing us to isolate form our friends. A good way to relieve stress is to play sports. Playing sports not only helps us relieve stress but also allows us to exercise and also make friends and it would also stimulate our body so that our mind would be fresh and clear after that. This is a useful yet healthy technique to rid of stress.

Parents or guardians should take time of their busy schedule to try and understand their children more and also be able to communicate with them, maintaining a healthy relationship between parents and child. Understanding them would also be able to help them out should they need any aid. This would have a great effect on the child as he would improve physically and psychologically. There would also be less problems surrounding thus allowing him to be able to concentrate on more important activities.