Parenting: Your Child Is Not Your Friend
Over the years, I’ve heard parents say that they’ve consider their child to be their best friend. I get it, some parents are close to their children but at no point should a parent ever place their child in the same bracket as a peer. There are too many things that can go wrong.
I knew a women who told me and others countless times that her 15-year old daughter was her best friend and true to her statement that’s how she treated her until something drastic happened and she tried to reverse her initial thoughts. See, her daughter no longer felt as if she was a child. As she got older her attitude towards grownups was warped because she saw herself on the same level as teachers, uncles, aunts and any other senior figure in her life.
Grades started to slip, the talking back to her mother begin and boom, she ended up pregnant at 15. Now, the mom was livid and wanted to scold her but she couldn’t. She had no clue what to do. She always viewed the child as an adult and now that she went out and did adult things, the mom wanted to treat her as a child and punish her. Too late. The damage was done.
This is the issue a lot of parents are facing as they have no clue on how to be a parent. You’re the leader and they are there to follow. No matter the age, your kids are supposed to look up to you, not eye-level. I know there are single parents out there that spend oodles of time with their kids and their bonds grow tighter than others but that still does not justify the fact that your child needs discipline and guidance. Their friends are the ones they are outside playing with or share a classroom with, not the ones that brought them into this world.
Parents, we must do better. Society should not tell you how to raise your kids. If you want to spank them, then spank them. But, please remember why you are there in the first place. It’s your job to raise, not befriend them.
Mark has been covering Sports and Entertainment for the past six years. His work has been featured on Bleacher Report, ESPN, Fox Sports, Teen Vogue, and many other websites.
