REASONS WHY CHILDREN DISOBEY THEIR PARENTS

Life has changed; it is no more what it used to be. In the olden days, we had well trained, respectful and disciplined children who always adhered to whatever instructions they were given. But, what do we see today.
This subject puzzles me a lot and being a youth myself I often ask, is it corruption, civilization or education in Nigeria today that is to be blamed for the child’s disobedience?

Exploring deeply into the meaning of disobedience, it is defined as the refusal, negligence or disregard of rules or prohibition. Therefore to disobey is to transgress or violate stated rules and commands. Children disobey when they totally refuse or neglect orders or rules given to them by their parents.

There are many reasons why children disobey their parents and one of these is the peer group influence. Children tend to be influenced by their peer groups, the group characteristics and actions which are exhibited and carried out so as to be upgraded with their peer group.

Furthermore, curiousity sometimes lead children to disobey their parents. For instance, the subject of sexual relationship with the opposite sex. A normal child would want to know why her parents want her to wait till she is adult before having sexual relationship and unsatisfactorily answers may lead her to probe deeper.

Children may also form the habit of disobeying their parents when they are under the influence of drugs and alcohol. These dangerous habits have psychological effect on their thinking ability.

Another very important reason why children disobey their parents is due to their parents’ carelessness. Some parents just have this inevitable desire to over pamper their children and these parents would be violating the command of God themselves by sparing the rod which would definitely lead to spoiling the child. In addition, the children will grow up to have the belief that they can do whatever they like.

Moreover, the bad behaviours, indiscipline of both parents towards each other could be the source of a child’s disobedience, because none of the parents would be showing any good examples to the children. A father who quarrels and beats his wife in the presence of his children cannot be a good role model.

The world is dynamic and surely the children cannot see through their parents’ eyes. The problem of disobedience could eventually be reduced, if both parents and children share mutual feelings and understanding of each other