Children of today are too pampered

"Mum, Ron just got a new phone!"
"So?"
"So?? I want a new Siemens too. Mine has no WAP functions."
"But dear, you are only in Form 3. Why would you need all those features when you just bought a phone not so long ago?" "But Mum..."
"No means no."
Slam!
"Honey, why don't we get him a new phone?"
"Darling, we seem to be getting him everything he wants. Shouldn't we limit it a tad bit?"
"At the expense of the door flying off its hinges??" "But---"
"Honey, we only want him to be happy, right?" "Oh, very well..."
Children of today are too pampered. Period.

In a world of technological advances and materialism, many adult have come to view material wealth as the highest form of success. Naturally, human nature leads these same people to shower their success and share this so-called joy with the ones closest to them. Parents behave likewise. Young children in contemporary time often receive too much pocket allowance for their age group. Why would a ten-year-old need RM50.00 a month when he packs sandwiches to school, goes home for lunch and take dinner with his family? What is a child to do with all this expendable cash? He spends it on toys his parents refuse to buy him, she spends it on dresses for a birthday party her parents have already denied her permission to go to. After all the refusals and denying of permission, the child in this modern civilisation still gets what he or she desires. Should society find it disconcerting that its offspring are becoming more and more rebellious by the day?

On the other hand, many teenagers - who always seem to be grumbling about the lack of spending money - have their own transport, that is cars and motorcycles obtained in their own name. Even if those vehicles are not theirs to stake claim to, they are still theirs to use as and when they desire. Whatever happened to those rain-or-shine-you're-taking-the-bus days? Yet despite this privilege, a majority of teenagers complain increasingly of their bone shakers, of getting wet riding a bike... The list goes on while the world shakes its head and wonders why its children have become uncontrollably demanding.

Apart from material wealth, many children and youths are being unwittingly spoilt by their equally ignorant parents. Many parents today are being over-protective of their children. Thirty years ago it would have been perfectly fine to discipline a student in school. Thirty years later, the same simple act of hitting the child on the palms would conjure up choruses of "Child Abuse!", "Abuse of Authority!", "No to Physical Punishment!" et cetera. Thus, as a child learns not authority in school, the child grows up defying authority as a norm. This form of pampering subtly confines the child's growth and stunts his or her ability to built strong and proper interpersonal relationships. Is it not ironic that parents complain of the growing irreverence and insolence of their children?

Children are gift from God, just as parents are often viewed as the guardians of humanity. However, anything in excess is and has never done any good for anyone. This same principle applies to pampering one's offspring. Perhaps it is time that families took a good look at their make-up and spend some precious moments evaluating the conditions of their homes. To love one's child is noble and indeed an obligation; but to spoil him or her in the process would not only be wrong done upon the child and oneself, it would also be a sin to society.

Spoil our children, destroy our future. Would you disagree?



Vocabulary
pampered : too much attention to making someone comfortable and happy treat too kindly.
宠坏
rebellious : disobedient and hard to control tending to rebel 反叛的
irreverence ：showing lack of respect for important people or organizations
不尊敬的