Peer Pressure

Not sure if this is happening elsewhere but I have noticed this increasingly among the so-called NRI parents living in US of A who try to pressurize their kids to pursue different interests at young age in an attempt to prove that his/her kids are superior to their neighbors' who in most cases are indian-origin parents. Do not be surprised if you find kids rushing back from school since they need to be on time for Soccer practice followed by Piano classes followed by Swimming, Taekwondo, Tennis and the list goes on and on. I might be exaggerating a bit but this is what happens in most cases. I did ask one of my colleague (mother of 2 girls) who is in the same boat and she mentioned that her intention is to get the kid trained until they hit the age of 12. After this age, she would prefer her kids to stay at home and concentrate on studies. My opinion is that this kind of thinking is absurd as it never gives the child a chance to hone their extra-curricular skills. You are basically halting the process before the kid even realizes his/her strengths in pursuing these activities to the next level. Since I am not a parent yet, may be I do not realize it now but I will surely try to overcome this peer pressure as a parent and also make sure my child is not bitten by this bug. All I want to say is that let the child decide what he wants to get into and you as a parent should only assist him in making some good decisions.

This is my first blog post and hope to continue posting more such opinions.