By Ravi Singh Negi
All major Educational Boards have declared their results for 2023. Parents want their children to be successful in life. They have very high expectations of their children. They want to fulfill their dreams through their children. They want that their children should do what they could not achieve in their own lives. Such thinking ruins the career of many children in our country, where competition for college and careers after X or XII levels is much keener and parents have a much stronger degree of control over their children’s choices.
Parents certainly have a responsibility to assist and mentor children in making wise career choices. Unfortunately, many parents place a lot of pressure on career options to the point that they impose these on their children. Parents go to this extreme with the best of intentions — they want their children to be successful. What they fail to understand is that their children might have different interests and values. The parent that pushes his or her child into a particular college and a career and subjects of their own choice may not realise the true interest of the child. Parents may be academically highly qualified in their respective fields but all parents are not psychologists and academic or career experts to judge the interests¸ aptitude and potential of their child in choosing career and future subjects. If children choose a career or subjects according to the wishes of their parents, they will have a boring academic life and develop a lack of interest, ultimately resulting in poor grades, which sometimes leads the children to depression.
Children have the right to choose their own career and they have the right to live their dreams. A child can only know his or her interests and abilities better than anyone else. They know the subjects and areas of their interest and, thus, can decide their career path easily. But, at this juncture, they are confused and pressurised by parents and relatives. They may take the wrong decisions under pressure and peer group influence. This is the right time for parents to support and guide their children in choosing their career and subjects keeping the children’s interest and aptitude in mind. Sometimes, children might exhibit interest in a lucrative or glamorous career but, remember, that only interest is not enough while choosing subjects or a career. In fact, aptitude carries more weightage over interest in this regard. If they still have a problem in choosing a right course, college or career, they should take the help of experts like academic or career counsellors.
