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SerenitiesScars Perhaps you need to stop acting like a child yourself and attempt to engage in a conversation like an adult would? Without use of caps lock, emoji, swearing, and needless mocking. Nevertheless, I will try to separate your points from your attitude, and craft a response.
Of course you can try to impart your beliefs and knowledge to your kids. Of course. But trying to limit their exposure to others is detrimental, which was my point. I think it does a disservice to a kid of you don't let them make their own choices. Personally, I have a good relationship with my parents
because of our differences, not in spite of them. My parents, like all parents, are flawed. And they had the wisdom to see that, and to not pretend that they had all the answers, or perfect answers. They raised me how they wanted and shielded me from bad influences as a young child, but by the time I was a teenager, they let me make my own decisions and judge influences myself, which is one of the few things I like about my parents' style of parenting.
Being a parent isn't something you do so you can mould another human into a little robot that thinks exactly what you do. Your job isn't to expose them to your beliefs, it's to keep them safe, keep them healthy, help them learn, and help them grow.
People's beliefs through their entire lives are built on the foundations of their time as a child. Saying that they have their 18+ lives to make their own decisions is like saying that a cake has all of the time in the oven to change what it is. A cake can bake for hours, but ultimately what you get out at the end is based entirely on what you put in at the start. Once the groundwork of beliefs is laid, it's incredibly difficult to change it.
Getting involved with your kids life is important and can be incredibly valuable, but that doesn't mean indoctrination and isolation.
If you, as a parent, lose any bond you had with a child the moment they move out, then you've done something seriously wrong. If you've done your job right, your kid should
love you. Should cherish their relationship with you. Yes, they want their space, their life, but if the relationship is good, it's not like you never see them again.
It's also important to remember that not all parents are good people, and that allowing parents unchecked power is not generally a good thing.
I know you want to think everything is about you, but unfortunately it's not. I'm not talking about you, I'm talking about parents in general. Sure, maybe you have the willpower, mental capacity, and technical knowledge to raise a child, do your job, and keep completely up to date with all of the new technology and trends when you're 50 years old, but not many people will.
If you genuinely think that not allowing your kids internet access will work, you have another thing coming. By the time any kids you or I have are 13 or 14 years old, internet access is going to be even more necessary and standard for schooling. When I was 16 (over 4 years ago), I went to a school where you had to have an internet capable laptop, and if you didn't, they would provide you with one. 20 years from now, that'll be so standard even for 10 and 11 years olds that most likely nobody will even bat an eye. And besides that, if I had a friend in school at that age who I knew was being deprived of an internet connection in that way, I would have done anything in my power to help them, and I know I'm not alone in that.
The internet is the greatest resource of information on the planet, and it is a vital part of modern life. If you're going to not let your children near it before turning 18 years old, perhaps you're right in predicting a future where the only time you get to influence them is before they can escape you.
