Hidden Valley Waterfall

Hidden Valley Waterfall

Monday, March 18, 2013

Where have all the parents gone?

Ah, nothing I like more on a day off from work than hearing screaming children fuss at each other and disrupt my every thought. NOT! I couldn't be more irritated and want to just slap them silly. Well, in all reality, I want to slap the parents silly. Otherwise, why would the children be acting like this?

I had an acupuncture appointment Sunday afternoon. I was waiting in the lobby b/c she was running late. Now, I will start this with these facts: 1.) I was in a compound area where apartments are, business offices, a cafe, etc. and 2.) It was the weekend. Now, with that said, I was completely flustered by the kids there.

There were roughly 10 kids, ages 7 to 11 (approximately) and not one adult in sight. I was shocked. Then, I thought about when I was that age. I thought about how my cousins and I would go bike riding down by the creek, play tag, jump mud puddles, and hope to make it back in time for dinner so we didn't get in trouble. But, I also grew up in a small borough with roughly 300 people - all of whom knew each other. I may not have had a parent with me, but there was always somebody's parent watching us. But even so, I wasn't screaming and disrupting people in a building. We were outside where Mother Nature was our playground and we could yell all we wanted and disturb nobody but the trees.

Here in Shenzhen, there are thousands of people, and I bet 90% of the people in that building have no idea who those kids belong to. People are just too trusting of environments they shouldn't be so trusting of. AND, they need to teach their children boundaries and manners, so I do not have to. I asked the one kid to please stop running inside and go outside to play. They were running in and out b/c one took something from the other and he wanted it back.  Anyway, he kept it up. I politely asked again. He continued. Then, I got up and told him I preferred not to ask a third time, as it would mean I ask his parents. He stopped.

If parents taught better social skills to their children, us teachers wouldn't have to work on the weekends so often. Just a thought.

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