Letters from the Box…
Dear Editorial Board of the newspaper English!
I am sending you the notes and the results of the questionnaire of the 10th form students
at your request to give answers to the “YES” section over the problem of “fathers
and sons” (English No. 12/2004 “How to Live in Peace With Parents?”).
The first question I asked myself when I finished reading the article was about my pupils
and their thoughts about this problem. And some of the results of the test surprised me a
lot.
Faithfully yours,
G. Merzlikina
The results of the questionnaire: 66% of the questioned said that their parents partly
controlled their daily schedule and 33% said that their parents did not control their
daily schedule; 100% said that parents did not have influence their choice of friends; 50%
of parents sometimes tried to influence their choice of clothes, hair style, image or
make-up; 100% of students said that the degree of control and guardianship of parents was
moderate and practically 100 % said that life with parents was good. Nobody said
that their life with parents is tense and difficult and that they didn’t try to control
children’s actions.
And finally, pupils’ notes:
TO LIVE IN PEACE WITH PARENTS ISN’T A DIFFICULT THING
...We have many problems with our parents. The first one is children’s appearance and the choice of clothes. I think that parents mustn’t tell their kids what they should wear. My parents don’t tell me how I must dress. And I think they are right. Another problem is our home duties. To my mind we ought to help our parents, because they come home worn-out and they are very upset when we forget to wash the dishes and clean the flat. As for me, my greatest problem is my curfew. Frankly speaking, many children don’t try to understand their parents and parents don’t try to understand their children either. Understanding...this is the main source of most conflicts between children and adults. To live in peace with parents isn’t a difficult thing. Parents shouldn’t press their children too much; they must allow teenagers to learn from their own mistakes. But this doesn’t include alcohol and drugs. We haven’t had much experience and sometimes we need help and advice. It is necessary for us to think that we aren’t alone...
By Anna Agafonova
PARENTS ARE ALWAYS AFRAID OF ADULT EXPERIENCE IN THEIR KID’S LIFE
...I love my parents very much, but sometimes I have some problems with them. My
parents forbid me to smoke, to stay out late at night, to drink alcohol. I agree and
understand them. But sometimes their behavior is unjustified. My mother always grumbles
about what I wear and what I do, what I listen to. I want to be treated like an adult, but
I’m a little girl in their eyes and it doesn’t please me. I think that it is really
bad when your parents do not believe you. Actually, the feeling of unhappiness is a big
problem. Somehow we must understand what parents want: to wish happiness for their
children, and their best welfare. And not to forget that parents are always afraid of the
adult experiences in their kid’s lives.
In my opinion parents are the best friends. I love and am proud of my parents.
By Tatyana Ryazanova
I’M OLD ENOUGH TO CONTROL MYSELF
The problem of “fathers and sons” is very old, but now it is acute. The young generation has its own problems and thinks only about them. It is the same situation with adults. Every child thinks that his problems and interests are important and that other people must take them into consideration. This is a reason for conflicts. As for my parents, they think young people today are less prepared for adult life, that changes in our society force youngsters to stand face to face with violence, aggression, cruelty. They don’t agree that my generation is old enough to be responsible for what it does. So they don’t give me a lot of freedom. In spite of this, I try to understand my parents, try to listen to their arguments; but I suspect they don’t want to understand me, they don’t see that I become more independent. I’m old enough to control myself. I see one of the main things I need in family relations is tolerance, but sometimes it seems to be almost impossible to reach.