Family
Parents Must Push Their Kids
By Todd Hicks
Apr 15, 2008

Are you a parent who wants your children to become successful in life? If you are a kid, do you ever think your parents are mean and should back off? Whether you are a parent or a kid, I know how you feel. I have been pushed by my parents. As a result, I am better off today.

When I was young, I sometimes did not appreciate discipline and showed an ugly side. I sometimes made my parents feel mean and hated. Want to know something? They did it for my own good. If you are a parent, you should push your kids and realize they will sometimes get mad at you and say they hate you. I will discuss my childhood to shed light on what parents and kids go through.

Parents want their kids to succeed at school. I struggled at school when I was in the fifth grade. I had to show my parents all my homework and get their help on it. I was no longer allowed to watch television. I was so frustrated that I threatened to not get my father any Christmas presents that year. I did not think it was fair to be stripped of my television privileges as a result of not being able to get good grades but my parents just wanted me to get better grades.

Are you a parent of a kid who stays in the house all day and watches too much television? This is not good. Make him or her go outside to play.

I used to stay in the house all the time until my father made me go outside to play one day when I was about ten or eleven years old. I started walking around the block looking for kids to play with. I made some friends and had fun. I learned to ride a scooter and bicycle. I got into the habit of going outside every day to play and get exercise. If my father had not made me go out to play, I might never have started playing every day and becoming familiar with the surrounding areas. I must thank him for this.

I was once grounded for coming back from playing outside when it was dark. Another time, I was told to not ride my bicycle for three weeks after I came home from riding my bicycle in the rain too long. I thought these measures were harsh but parents must try to keep their kids safe from harm and protect their health.

As a kid, my mother made me read books. At first, I did not like it and made my mother feel like she was mean. I developed a love for books and became good at reading and writing. This push was one I definitely needed.

Parents want their kids to take up hobbies and stick to them. When I became a teen, I developed an interest in playing the piano; consequently, I was signed up to take piano lessons and my parents bought a piano. I had to practice playing the piano at home for a particular amount of time every day. One time, I ended my session early and my father made me get back to playing the piano. Due to practicing so much, I became a pretty good pianist and excelled at my high school piano classes.

These incidents illustrate the importance of parents pushing their kids. If you are a parent, you must push your kids despite their gripes to mold them into successful adults. If you are a kid, you now know why you are being pushed.