Raising Children in Tomorrow's World Essay

‘Raising children in tomorrow’s world will be more challenging than ever before. ’ Discuss. The ancient proverb “it takes a village to raise a child” illustrates the arduousness of raising children. One’s children are probably the biggest, most uncertain and risky investment in his or her life. Judging by the popularity of self-help books on how to bring up children ‘correctly’, it is evident that many parents are having trouble in child-raising, and are desperately seeking help in it. However, this is not a new phenomenon as parenting troubles have a long history.

Today, the problem has manifested in our modern world and parents still face a load of challenges in raising their children and these problems are set to worsen due to the rapid modernization and globalization of values. On top of that, the worlds we live in is set to become increasingly uncertain and more dangerous. On the contrary, the advancement in technology has also done a great part in making parenting more convenient and easy as compared to before as with the use of communicating devices, it is way easier to track the children’s behavior.

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Despite of the convenience technology has brought about for parents, there are far more uncertainties and challenges that modernization has brought about. Therefore, it is safe to say that raising children in tomorrow’s world will largely be more challenging than before. Way before globalization began, when different values and ideas were not widespread, parents used to have more influence and control over their children. They had a near monopoly on influence on their children. They had the power to shield their children from unwanted and bad influences.

However, in today’s world where the media has a huge and overwhelming influence to our lives, children are being influenced at levels beyond what can be filtered out by their parents. The television now airs shows which glamorizes a life of materialism and immorality and children who watch these shows may inadvertently pick up these ideas and be led into thinking that these shows represent normal and acceptable ways of life. The internet is another source of influence. Children may stumble upon mature content like pornography.

Studies have shown that children exposed to mature content at a young age are more likely to grow up being promiscuous themselves. Proper upbringing by parents can make a child less likely to be a delinquent later in life. Therefore in this aspect, raising children in tomorrow’s world will be more challenging then before. As modernization and globalization takes place, the standard of living increases and this means that parents will need to dedicate more time to work for a higher pay check. Furthermore, in light of the global recession, parents are likely to work harder to keep their jobs.

This limits the time they get to spend with their children which in turn leads to lesser time to teach and guide the children. It may seem ironic that many parents are working so hard to bring home bread and give their children a good life and education but sequentially have no time to spare time when it comes to the upbringing of the children. This shows clearly that parents are fighting a losing battle for the hearts and minds of their children and this situation is likely to worsen as the world progresses economically.

Therefore, it can be said that raising children in tomorrow’s world will be more challenging than ever. The ever-increasing demands of modern life will make raising children more difficult in the future. To fuel the global economy, ever-higher levels of consumption and work must be attained. Due to the overly competitive struggle for wealth and power, raising a child may soon not simply involve grooming his or her character but at the same time ensuring academic excellence.

More and more parents are sending their young children to learn other skills such as sports or the arts, in hopes this may one day help their child’s future in one way or another. These parents are forced to balance work in favor of play for their children from a young age. Although this is often for the child’s good, something has to be sacrificed in order to make time for these activities and frequently it is regrettably the time that should be utilized for bonding between parent and child that is given up. Unless this struggle ceases to exist, this problem will only grow.

Hence, if things remain the same, child raising is set to be even more difficult in the future. Despite the fact that globalization and the never-ending struggle for wealth and power has made child-raising more difficult, the advancement in technology has brought about changes which makes parenting easier. Modernization has brought about several changes that can actually make parenting just as easy, if not easier than before. To address the lack of time a parent spends with his or her children, the internet can be used to provide real-time video conferencing and communication between the parent and child.

This is especially useful for parents who work long shifts or those who are often not in town due to work. To keep children in check, parents can monitor what their children are doing at home through the use of strategically placed cameras that they can access using the internet at their workplace. Filtering software can also be installed on computers to prevent access to questionable content on the web. However, these measures have their limitations. Real and personal face-to-face communication can never be substituted with technological surveillance.

While these measures reduces the worries of the parents, it has to be complemented with quality interaction. The society has also been placing more attention on children in recent decades. This has led to the implementation of new policies and provision of support to parents for raising children. For example in Singapore, in addition to more paid maternity leave and days off to take care of sick children, parents are now assisted by government policies that helps in the financial burden of raising a child in the form of subsidies and bonuses.

These measures may be small but it will hopefully gain momentum as the current levels of help provided is still highly inadequate. In conclusion, it can be seen that many factors has made child-raising increasingly difficult. These include negative influences from the media and the competition and struggle for wealth and power in today’s society. Fortunately, there has been some advantages in the form of technology and governmental support.

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