Teach Children to Respect Elders
Introduction: With changing times, the respect for elders is decreasing. The new generation wants to touch the sky as soon as possible by riding on the horse of new thinking. As a result, the new generation is forgetting its civilization and culture. Today even the elderly are being considered as old things.
Children are forgetting to respect the elders. The reality is that there has been a change in our social system and thinking in the last two-three decades. The concepts and ideas of nuclear family are growing rapidly in the society. The joint family system is gradually ending. Or rather it is on the verge of ending. Today, for a child, family means only ‘mom-papa’ and other relationships end with uncles and aunts only.
Table of Contents
Lack of Sufficient Time
Due to breakdown of joint families and working parents, parents and guardians are not able to give enough time to their children. Today, parents do not have enough time to sit comfortably for two minutes and impart values to their children, tell them about the relationships and make them understand that it is these elders who have nurtured and brought us up. Because of these elders we exist on the earth. The elderly do not deserve our kindness but proper respect. In this busy life, who has the time to teach their children the etiquette of respecting and honoring the elders?
Excessive Use of Gadgets
It is not that only in the nuclear families children do not know how to respect the elders. In the changing social and family system, even among the children growing up in joint families, the sense of respect towards elders has decreased because now children do not want to listen to the stories of grandparents. They are attracted only by cartoon series telecast on TV & computers, and videos & mobile games.
As a result, after coming from school, children spend most of their time with TV and other devices. Their communication with family members remains nominal or related to work (selfishness). Understanding, love and respect for any relationship arises only when we live with that relationship, sit and talk with it. But when children do not live with the elders, they neither have any love for the elders nor do they know anything about the respect of the elders.
Wealth of Elders’ Experience
In this way, the busy life of parents & guardians and the increasing number of nuclear families are driving children away from the elderly. Actually elders have an immense wealth of experience. If children spend their lives under the shadow of elders, they will understand civilization and culture and along with this they will also learn innumerable other qualities and good habits. It is our responsibility to teach children to respect elders and also tell them how important and valuable elders are for them as well as their country.
