Some parents around the world have the belief that they know what's best for their kind and should be the ones having the day in what their child does or his or her career choices, while parents having a say in their child's life isn't entirely a bad thing because it means well for such a child; however, it's worth noting that such a child's opinion also needs to be known and considered for the future of such a child, and as I said, we've come to see loads whose career paths were forced on them by their parents and ended up being failures.
Parents always mean well for their children and think they mean well; however, it's not all the time their say can stand in decision-making, especially when it has to do with the life of their children. Although I myself would want to have a say in my child's life and how they do things, yet I've got to study such children to know what they like and help shape them to be the best in that profession, rather than forcing them into a career path they don't like.
I've through the years seen people in my neighborhood, friends, and even adults who grow up to regret some actions taken on their behalf by their parents, and on the positive aspect, I've also seen people who're thankful their parents were there to decide for them at some critical stage in life. This is a complicated topic to worry about and even difficult to pick side, because as much as a parent is the guidance of a child, it's worth knowing that it's the child's life and he or she should have a say in it as well.
Take, for instance, a friend who, from a tender age, has been so enthusiastic about electronics, losing and repairing different gadgets, and even building some from scratch with the basics materials he finds around him; however, when he was of age and was about to choose a course in areas of robotics engineering, his parents, who were both doctors, totally declined and insisted he must also go into the medical line.
And to fulfill all righteousness and obey his parents, he did delve into medicine and get admission, but his performance was so bad that it got to a point where it was obviously he couldn't cope and might need up failing and getting advice to withdraw. Realizing their mistakes, the parents had no choice but to let him change course into his desired field, and since doing that, his performance skyrocketed. Fast forward to the present day; he went on to be the best student in his department, and he's presenting in Japan, furthering his studies in robotics engineering.
On the other hand, I remember another friend of mine back then who, because most of us his friends chose science class, wanted to join us, but his parents completely refused, and their reasons are because he's only being influenced by we his friends choice; meanwhile, he had always told his parents about how he loved to be a writer and had even written loads of books while we were in junior high, so his parents, seeing how he's about to choose wrongly, quickly delved in.
And it greatly helped him, because I remember a few years ago when we had a get-together with my secondary schoolmate; we did joke about that occurrence, and he was so thankful for his parents decision that helped him stick with his beloved career path, which is what he now enjoys doing presently with over 3 books published.
In conclusion and in my opinion, I believe parents should sit their wards down and have a heart-to-heart discussion with them before making decisions that could make it more their life in the future, and another thing is for parents to be observant of their kids, identifying what they thrive in academics, tasks, and the like, and this will help ease their decision-making.
All photos are mine.