Security versus ambition

Before children hit their teens, they seem to have the ambitions that are sky-high. A lot want to be professional sports stars, singers, doctors, entrepreneurs or even astronauts.
Parents tend to support these ambitious dreams during early childhood and the majority will tell their child that they can be whatever they want if they put their mind to it. However, in the majority of these cases this support seems to dwindle and die as their children age.
The ‘reach for the sky’ attitude of most parents changes to an emphasis on ensuring their children keep their head above water. Teens are encouraged to concentrate on their studies so they can get a good steady secure job.
It seems the majority of parents would much prefer their children to secure steady employment in one of the many serviced office slough has to offer rather than train for years in a risky industry such as self-employment, professional sports or the arts. This has both its up and down points, however the reasons behind it are fairly clear – this article presents three of them.
Fear
Fear is the number one feeling that curbs ambition and it can also move third parties to try and protect their loved-ones. Fear, in this case, can take a number of forms. Parents fear that their child will be short of money. They fear that their child will be hurt by failure. Some might even fear that they will have to fund their child’s lifestyle if their dreams don’t go to plan.
For some, living a life without taking risks is satisfying. They are happy living each day knowing that their livelihood is secure. For others this is not so exciting however, so parents need to recognise both sides of the argument.
If I can’t do it…
A lot of parents probably had these sky-high ambitions themselves when they were a child but ended up taking the secure route just like the majority of people. Some may have even struggled to hold down a secure job themselves at some point.
This leads their ‘parental wisdom’ to indicate that getting a top job is far too difficult and that a steady wage is a success that their child should be proud of gaining. However they should try to have full confidence in their children, whatever decision they make.
Mummy knows best
A lot of parents claim that they know their child better than anyone and believe that they are the best judges of how successful their offspring will end up.
Having followed their progression into a young adult, many parents believe their children don’t have what it takes to make their dreams come true and so encourage them to aim lower.
Whether it is right or wrong to curb a child’s enthusiasm is an argument with two very different sides. After all, very few people end up filling their ambitious childhood dreams and these days many people are lucky to have a job at all. Many stereotypically less exciting office-based careers are, in reality, extremely fulfilling and well-paid.
However for those who are wondering why parents are curbing a child’s enthusiasm, these theories provide some interesting ideas.
Posted by a guest blogger