Should parents influence their childrens choices?

Hiya plop5th, In most Cases if the Child is old enough to be able to choose I think the Child should have a say in it. All depends on their Age really. If they are thirteen and upwards the time has come for them to choose what they study and where if they can. It makes for a really miserable time for the young Person to have to study what he feels obliged to learn and not really what he or she wants himself. Even when that young Person has a choice he can go off the rails and make mistakes about how they go about focusing on their future career. I think that we should be there to advise them and help them if they want us to. Otherwise we can remain more in the background just asking them every so often how everything is going. They will never get any real self confidence until they start learning to fly by themselves. This is what I would do and have done and it worked for me.

Not really influence but guidance. That was something I didnt have when I was also making some important decisions in my life before. My parents always had to decide for me and I think that has a negative effect on me now that I am older cause I can seem to decide for myself sometimes.

I think that parents should subtly influence their children's decisions, but never be seen to be making their decisions for them. Parents can try to guide their children towards the right path, but at the end of the day, the only person who can make the decision is the child, otherwise they will end up resenting you for it. My parents tried to influence my A Level decisions, and I picked them based on what they wanted rather than what I wanted and I ended up having a very miserable two years studying subjects which I didn't enjoy. Then, they tried to choose a university for me, but I had learned from my mistakes and I chose where I wanted to go for myself. My parents were just trying to help me to make the best decision, but you have to decide where to cut the line between helping and ultimately forcing them to make a decision to do something which they do not want to do.

Influence, yes! I think that's what parents are for. They should somehow be able to give an insight of what is life ahead. If it were for a degree, the parents should know what college or university would like with their chosen line of studies. But if the child has strong sense of direction and has made up his or her mind, I also agree that parents shouldn't influence them otherwise. The final decision still has to be made by the child.

I think parents are thingking only for what's best for us. But I think that we should follow our own dreams and live to fulfill it coz life is too short to be wasted and to regreted in the end. You can listen to your parents advices but try to tell them what you really wanted in your life. Make them understand what your desires are and I know they'll listen to you. Just don't waste your time coz life is too short. Have a nice day! ^_^