The Value of Relationship

Time has changed. With the improvement of technologies, people’s life is no longer measured in hours or minutes but in terms of seconds. For many parents in the U.S., the total amount of time they spend everyday driving to work, answering clients phone call, and responding to emails are twice as much, compare to the amount of time they spend with their children.

I believe that no matter whatever the family condition is, parents should take the most responsibility for raising their kids, and there are two primary reasons: first, it complies with traditional and cultural value, and second it increases the level of intimacy between parents and kids.

After many years of scientific research, sociologists have come to the conclusion that, culture is the only factor that separates human from other species. Different people may have different cultural background, in other words, different beliefs and practices. However, there is one statement all societies agree with: a stabilized society begins in a home, and in the house it all start with the teachings and the disciplines of a child.

By combining both western and eastern religions, the serious argument for parents to be actively involved in this crucial process (raising their child) can be more sufficiently emphasized. In the Holy Bible, the Koran, or the Hebrew Bible, they all defined what a family is-a father, a mother, and a child. The most important duty for the parents is to instruct their kids and teach them the truth. In eastern countries, the mission of raising a child is described as the most difficult task. Moreover, it can be only accomplished when both the mother and the father execute it together. For instance, Taoism’s Yin and Yan, Hinduism’s Vishnu the Preserver and Shiva the Destroyer. Yet, each part may have different missions or attitudes, however, they only work when the two pieces are united. Our ancestor once thought that these teachings were the most precious things for mankind. Our culture, however, is pushing them farther and farther away from our everyday lives.

Secondly, I believe the psychological feeling of comfort and familiar for a child when they are with their parents are essential. Animal Psychologist and human psychologists once did an interesting experiment together. Scientists want to know if monkeys and humans are going to react similarly, when they face a sudden change of people and environment.

Scientist first started with monkeys. They randomly selected thirty monkeys from zoos across the nation, they gathered them up, and placed them into an empty classroom. After just minutes, monkeys recognized the differences of environment and people; as a result, they all became exhilarated. Scientists recorded monkeys jumping from chair to chair, and shouting to each other as greetings.

However, when scientists did the same thing to human beings, the outcome was completely the opposite. Since each of them have never met each other, so people’s tone, voice, diction, and even behavior started to alter because of external factors. For some people, they even placed themselves into a defensive position. From this experiment, psychologists have concluded that, humans are a very distinct species, unlike other species human are the only mammal, which opposes any change, even if the change is small. Therefore, kids will react differently with different intimacy levels. For instance, a child may feel completely normal to go to supermarket shopping or go watch a movie with his mother, but feel bizarre or even scared to conduct exactly the same activity with his father.

In conclusion, this is my fourth year to be in this country. Indeed, this country has great health insurance and other offers for people who are retired; however, senior citizens usually do not get the respect they deserve from junior group. Much of the reason why this is beginning to happen is because of the devaluation of cultural values, and parent’s failure of understating and applying the correct teaching and discipline to their kids. When everyday people are worrying about their banking account, can this society move any further?