I think as South Africans we have been accustomed to a culture of laziness, hence we grow up and have someone to blame for all our misery.
I just noticed that the school were closed, because a group of 5 kids came knocking in our office asking if they could wash cars, mind you me they were all under 12, now that is the kind of culture that we need to be installing in our kids, work your land that is what we should teach them.
Instead of spoon feeding them, and availing everything on a silver platter make them do some work for a change, they must just not sit and watch television the whole day, let them go out there, be it washing cars, selling sweets, baking or simply helping out at an old age home.
We need to instil in our children a culture of doing, of working and not always waiting to be worked for, I believe our young generation is faced with so many challenges, especially unemployment and the high use of drugs and crime because young people are not trained from the young age to work.
Young people lack a lot of skills because we teach them, it’s okay to sit back and do nothing and just waste time. No it’s not okay for them to laze around and watch their lives pass them by.
We as a society have bred a lot of lazy young people, who just want to do nothing and expect the government to do everything for them. We have bred irresponsible, selfish undisciplined generation.
Here are a few things I feel our young generation lacks:
Self-discipline
Self-discipline won’t just make them lovable but good and responsible citizens as well, parents need to stop spoon feeding their kids and start teaching them discipline, discipline should not just be taught in schools but it should be taught at the dinner table as well. Are you disciplining your child? If you not than who should do that job for you?
Motivate your kids
One thing I have seen is motivated children seem to succeed in almost everything they touch, it’s not because they are good or gifted in that area because they have someone telling them yes you can do it, yes you are and if not you who else.
When I was a kid and I was motivated to do something, I gave it my best, I didn’t just do, but I excelled. It’s the same with the kids in this generation; they just need a push to the right direction. Give them that push.
“Encouraged people achieve the best; dominated people achieve second best; neglected people achieve the least.- Unknown”
Affirmation
A child can never get too much affirmation from the parents, remind them every day that they are good enough and that you would never have been blessed with a better kid, tell them they are beautiful, that they are special. If it means reminding them every day, so be it, but never let a day go by without your kid knowing how loved and appreciated they are, even if they are naughty at times. We’ve all been young and naughty at times.
Be Gracious
Kids will make you scream at the top of your voice sometimes, they will irritate you, and sometimes you would wish you didn’t have them, love them anyways. Be gracious to them, remember that you too were once their age, that you too were once a little bit rebellious, forgive and love them, they are a blessing after all.
Let them work their land
Now teach them that in order to get you have to do. Hard work has never killed anyone before, and sending them out there to do whatever work they will be safe be it gardening, washing cars, or even cleaning the house or making sure the neighbourhood is cleaned up, give them that challenge and reward them.
I believe we need to start giving birth to a new kind of generation, and only we as a society can do that by instilling disciplines in our homes, in our kids. If we want to see change, than that change has got to start in our families. What better time for that change to start than now.
So this is a challenge for you if you are a parent or a guardian, make sure that your kids are doing something meaningful this holiday.
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