"Children Need Guidance And Sympathy Far More Than Instruction" - Anne Sullivan Macy
When I first read the quote above, the first thought that came into my mind was, "That's so true! I couldn't agree more!".
As a 16 year old sophomore in high school, still figuring so many things out, often times, the only thing I hoped for would be guidance, be it precisely from parents, or perhaps just adults around me. Someone to give me advices on what I should probably be doing to solve my doubts and fears, however, instead of asking the adults around me directly , I'd found myself taking notes from Lorelai Gilmore (Gilmore Girls' Lorelai Gilmore, of course! ) and other people's comments on youtube with related topics. This situation of mine however, I understood: I'm not alone.
During this time of Online School (Because Of The Pandemic, it's 2020! ), we often have more free time than usual, and those free times, I personally spend thinking as well as analyzing, about, basically anything and everything 😞 And it got me thinking, that perhaps those often dubbed by society to be "Lazy, Disinterested, Have No Idea Where They're Going, Etc, etc", just needed the right guidance from adults around them, most important of all, from parents and guardians at home.
How many times have we heard sayings such as: " Find your one true talent, and be the best at it", and everything else related to that? From my personal experience, I've heard them a bunch of times. Well then, what happens when you have no idea yet on what your talent actually is?
Sadly, I've seen them just lingering around and "do nothing", and when they "do nothing", people would usually, of course, judge and label them.
Please kindly know, that I am a strong believer in the concept of "helping yourself, learning to be independent". I do. Despite me writing this piece, I do believe in the concept of trying, of making the most out of the resources we have. We live in a 4.0 world, we grew up with it. Technology makes it easier for us to look for and obtain informations from multiple resources, this I couldn't agree more.
But there's another statement that I couldn't agree more either, and that is : "When not use wisely, technology divides us". True. And the sad truth is? This often occurs in one's households.
We have technology. Alright. We obtain our informations easier. That's a fact. Adults around us often think that's enough, so they leave it at that. Another fact!
Interested in knowing another fact? Here's this: Despite technology, despite the countless resources, we ( still discovering ourselves, what we're good at, what we actually really absolutely want) still need your guidance! You as in parents, guardians, adults, we, confused children, still need your help.
I can't help myself but feel mad and sad and disappointed when parents blame their growing children still discovering everything when they haven't discover what they're best at, and blaming it all on the children. Because, frankly, it's your responsibility as a parent to assist, to guide, to reach out.
The habit of keeping one's thoughts, doubts, and fears alone in one's head only to explode it all in tears before bed, occurs from the habit of usual cruel judgements from adults around. I believe this is another common known fact, and yet, so many still choose to ignore it.
No matter how many "what's your true talent?, what's your destined career path?" online quizzes and everything in between that we took on the internet, sometimes just won't be enough to actually discover our "it". I understood that those quizzes weren't meant to be taken seriously, as a guidance, but then, how many of us put in the little hope that it would give us a clue, even if just the tiniest bit, to what we are actually good at?Â
We need guidance, we need parent contribution, we need your help, we need your advices, we need your act towards discovering it all. We need you to be open, we need you to not be judgemental, we need you to be there for us. Because we need you. And together, we can, and we will.
Much Love,
Children Still Figuring Out Everything
