We as Americans always claim to be family oriented; we always put family first, but in reality we are always willing to pass judgment people who we feel are different from us or have different beliefs from us. This often happens in families when one of the members, more so the parents child, admits to being homosexual, or even if it is something as small as the child wanting to pursue a dream that the parent feels isn’t useful or what they want to child to do. Being a teenager, I always have different ideas and opinions from my mom ranging from my choice of boyfriends to what school I was deciding to go to. My mom never rejects my ideas or opinions and this makes it easier for me to discuss my problems with her because I know that even if she believes different from me she will always support my opinion and what I want to do in life. It helps me to believe in my self when I feel that times are getting hard. That’s why I feel that parents should love their children unconditionally so their children can feel love and support and have someone to turn to when they feel they can’t go on.
Sometimes people are so caught up with the fast pace in America, that they forget about family and forget how hard it can be for people who have different beliefs from the majority. “Since we are inclined, as Americans, to think of ourselves individually, we are disinclined to think of ourselves as creating one another or influencing one another”(Rodriguez, 195). My friend drinks a lot of liquor and goes to a lot of parties. Even though she has a mind of her own and should be able to make the right decisions on her own, she doesn’t. Her mom does the same thing, she drinks and parties and is never home. It maybe unconscious to my friend why she drinks but, part of the reason is her mom does it. All she is doing is repeating the cycle. Her mom sometimes yells at her because she comes in drunk and that’s being hypocritical because she’s telling her not to drink and party but yet she drinks all day at home and goes out every weekend without worrying about her children at home. Then there’s my home, where my parents don’t drink, smoke and do not and will not allow me to do it, and I’ve never felt the need to because my parents don’t do that and they show me other ways to solve my problems and other ways to have fun.
I feel that sometimes we, as people, need to just stop and think about certain situations and how it maybe hard for someone else before we make prejudgments on another person. More parents in American need to realize that they have to pay more attention to their children and give them the time and attention that they need and to also realize that even though we give the impression that we aren’t listening to them we really are. I feel that when people can learn to try and understand each other better that will solve some of the bigger situations in our country.
