THE Filipino culture of parents being involved in the future of their children can be both beneficial and detrimental. Sometimes the parents should keep in mind the line between guiding the children and letting them decide on their own.
Some colleges and universities in the country have started the school year since last month. The prevailing situation among freshmen college students is that the course they take are not solely because of their own decision but mainly because their parents want them to follow a family tradition.
"We are a family of engineers, so my parents want me to become an engineer as well."
"They think if I take up this course, it will have more money in the future than my choice. But I don't think this is really for me."
While the parents want nothing but the best for their children's future, it is also a dangerous path to decide on the college course of the kid. For one, that would be four to five years of "forced education" and going to and from school without the right motivation.
It was during the 90s to early 2000s when nurses were very much in-demand abroad especially in Canada, United States, and other parts of Europe. As a consequence, Filipino parents found this to be one of the most ideal courses their children should take for college. It was the children born in the early to mid 1980s who were convinced of their parents to take a nursing degree. A few years after, the Philippines had an overflowing supply of nurses, some of those refuse to be employed here locally because of the smaller wage as compared to hospitals abroad. However, Western countries started cutting down on the demand of Filipino nurses, or even nurses in general. As a result, the Philippines was left with too many nurses they can't employ, who eventually turned to other jobs or opened their own businesses.
Sometimes, the children do not know what they want for their future and so the parents come to the rescue. But maybe if the children were more exposed or was allowed to grow in a more expressive community and household, they could easily determine what they would love to do in the future or at the very least, point out what they don't like. Children taking up college need guidance but that's the most parents could do.
Time and time again, parents deciding for the course of their children while refusing to listen to what the children have to say do not end up in a good way. Sometimes they grow easily tired and unmotivated with their studies, they shift to one course after another, or they stop schooling entirely. Worse, others undergo depression and end up hurting themselves.
The future is bright for people whose dreams are followed. For a person to be successful, risks should be taken and decisions should be made themselves. There will be mistakes but that's how one grows.