Contrary to what people may believe, a tertiary education does not ensure a better future for children. The key word here is "ensure", as nothing in life is a guarantee. A tertiary education is any schooling beyond secondary, or high school. This could be a full four year college, community college, or technical and trade schools. Children are mistakenly led to believe that if you do well in school, get into college, and get your degree, that you will have nothing but success.
This is completely false and giving children this limited advice could contribute to their downfall. Although it is vital to continue your education, the quest for success does not end once you have that specialized degree.
Success comes to those who seek it, believe in it and work hard for it. Success is not handed to anyone, including those with higher education. So why then are there so many people graduating from universities, yet are still unable to find jobs, keep jobs, grow their careers and provide for themselves and their families?
Unfortunately our nation is raising generations of children who feel "entitled". Children are growing up feeling that they are owed everything in life. It begins when they are young and they feel that they deserve and should get any and all toys they want. This can be attributed to the onslaught of marketing and advertising on television. Children are constantly bombarded with visions of the next biggest and best toy. Peers continually compare who has the newest and the best and parents fall prey to this competition.
It does not end there, as children enter the teenage years it gets even worse. They believe they should get the newest electronics or the most in-fashion designer wear, or even worse a new car when they turn sixteen. Parents shower these material possessions upon their children for a variety of reasons. They may feel guilty for not being able to spend enough time with them. They may have grown up with those same expectations, and either they were denied by their own parents, so they vow to not deny their children, or they were given it all too so see nothing wrong with it.
This is not to say that giving your child gifts or providing them with modern technology is a bad thing. It is just that children need to learn the value of a hard day's work and the benefits that come with that or in contrast, the consequences that come with laziness. They need to be taught by example that life is a series of struggles and triumphs and that with each comes a valuable learning experience.
In addition to feeling entitled, children are no longer allowed to experience failure. Parents, teachers and coaches are all led to falsely believe that all children
need to feel triumph, even in circumstances when they failed. Children are sheltered so much that they grow up believing that no matter what they do and how they do it, they are successful.
This is doing them a grievous disservice that will affect them for their whole lives. Of course no one likes to feel bad, and no one wants a child to feel bad, especially if they have really tried in whatever they did. However, without feeling the disappointment of failure, they will never be able to experience and appreciate the jubilation of true success.
So shower your children with gifts, but teach them the value of hard work. Provide your children with a wide variety of opportunities, and support them through their failures and celebrate with them in their successes. Encourage your children to continue their education, for learning is really what feeds our soul. Most of all believe in your children, so they will learn to believe in themselves. These are the things that will shape our children because only they can enusre a better future for themselves.
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