When I was in class 5th, my greatest wish was to join dance classes happening at a community center near my home. But my mother didn’t allow me to join it because she thought studies are more crucial than learning dance. She wanted me to focus on my school more so that I could have a good career path further. I must say my parents always gave me best of the facilities I needed during my studies and only because of my them today I am having a successful career. However, when I notice parents now encouraging kids for other activities, I always get nostalgic about those dance classes which I could never join. It's not really easy for parents to help kids choosing a career path. They want only the best for their kids. And they do take decisions to steer kids towards the ‘right’ careers which many times don’t interest kids at all. For many parents (including mine) jobs in engineering, medicine or technology seem the best as they can lead to financially successful and stable life. But what if parent’s opinion defer from their kids’? Referencing today's diverse stream of studies, Is there any right or wrong way of leading kids towards the "right" jobs? Will it break your heart if your son or daughter wants to pursue a career in non-profit, like singing or dancing ?
As per a study, most of the times students select streams for higher studies which don’t delight them. There are plenty of factors that make this process difficult for youngsters. Force from parents and teachers, economic changes, employment forecasts, media and peer pressure play role in forcing young kids to choose what they don’t like much. As it's understandably challenging for kids to decide on careers early on, parents seriously take charge here. 90 % of parents prefer STEM (science, technology, engineering, and math’s) careers for their kids even though their kids don’t agree on them. And most of the times, such parents worry if their kids would be able to pursue these subjects when they notice poor performance from their kids later on.
Time has come when we parents need to ease this process of selecting careers for our kids. There are few things we parents can do to help our kids decide and progress on the career path which they like and which is even good in terms of financial stability:
- Kids showcase their special talent early on their lives. But at this point, it would too early to assume they'll go in this field simply because of their liking. Remember kids change with time. For example, if he/she is good in painting, please don’t assume that he/she will become an artist in future. Understand he/she has a creative instinct which can further be groomed more. Creativity can be used in many fields other than painting, like; fashion designing, architecture and writing. We should encourage healthy choices in our kids.
- Most of the times, we teach our kids in such a way that when anyone asks them what they want to become in future, they blindly say “World’s best Doctor”,or, “An IS officer” or even “ India’s best cricketer”. But the problem here is, as a parent, our goals are not realistic. So we need to break the goals and work on them since school time. Encourage your kid to join school cricket team, promote him/her to participate in GK quiz and help him/her to understand human body more other than what is covered in a school Having realistic yet challenging goals helps kids become responsible and confident individuals later on.
- We can’t teach every talent to our kids. So if you see your kid is an average achiever, it doesn’t mean he/she can’t attain success in future. Not every kid can become a heart surgeon in future. But if he/she has an interest in animals, you can help him/her in becoming a veterinary physician.
- And above all, we should teach our kids decision-making capabilities. This will make the road towards fruitful careers less bumpy for them regardless of conflicts of their interest and your liking. Perhaps the best way to steer our kids towards a brighter tomorrow is to assure them that they always have choices And let their decision-making skill opt what look best to them.
It’s obvious that our kids will need our help in every step of their life. And while they may not always ear our career advice, at the end of the day, if they're happy, that's OK. This is what we parents want, isn’t?
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