My Opinions on Parenting

    The dynamic between parent and child is a delicate balance that is sometimes hard to strike. The dilemma being whether to be a friend or to be an authority. There are pros and cons to both of these but there are methods of going about them that can result better. I believe that although you want your child to be open with you and talk to you about things that they would tell their friends, in my opinion, it is better to be more of the parent. In this case you should talk to your child about having someone that they can tell anything when they get in trouble, whether it be a friend(adult), older sibling, teacher, adult, just someone that if something went terribly wrong and the did not feel comfortable telling their parents they can still get help.

Personally, my parents are not my friends. I don't tell them everything and but do hold a healthy relationship with them although occasionally we do butt heads, we come to a consensus the majority of the time. My parents have always brought to the table that if you disagree with the rules, and have proper justification for it, then you aren't in the wrong for doing what you believe. That being said, this only goes to a certain extent and I do believe that what a parent says goes in certain situations, to much of my dismay on several recent Saturday nights.

Which brings me to my next point on the leniency that I find with other kids and their parents. My parents being first-generation immigrants come from a very different culture with different values that have had wonderful affects on me but also get in the way of me wanting to enjoy my youth. I find that some parents actually have been in those(that of an American youth) shoes before and do understand where their kids are coming from and will let kids be kids. I do understand that mistakes will be made and that some are worse than others, but a lot of times these parents are letting their kids make these mistakes for themselves. Now I know for some of these kids, looking back, they decide that those decisions were not the best, but don't really understand the gravitas of their actions.

Overall, I do believe that parents should not be friends but uphold the level of authority with their child. Additionally, unfair "calls" will be made but it is out of their best interests for the child and the parents have a better perspective of the situation. Parents should give their kids freedom to a certain extent but ensure that they are making the right decisions. In the end, once you get to a point in your parenting, you just have to trust the job that you did and hope your kid makes the right choices.