On enforcing career choice on children

Career is a person’s course of progress through his professional life. With the definition, it clearly indicates that second parties or parents are not involved in career making.

Nowadays, children or students are forced to choose a profession by their parents. Because of this, many children end up making career choices that do not suit them or interest them. Parents can be involved in the minor aspect of decision making.

By minor aspect, I mean that parents can only guide their children in choosing a good career. Parents can also support their children in career making by allowing them attend leadership programmes or skill acquisition programmes that would help boost their interest in their chosen career.

This is better than forcing them into a career that they would end up regretting and blaming their parents for the rest of their lives as they do not have the zeal to continue doing a job they do not have passion for.

Some parents choose career for their children because they feel they’ve seen the world better or have experienced life better, so they feel better choosing the career they think would fit their children perfectly, therefore imposing it on them; but they can’t know what interests their children better than the children themselves. Everybody has a particular calling which he would be better off pursuing.

In some cases, the child may be adamant; such children, rather than do a course they have no interest in, refuse to attend classes or put in necessary effort to get good grades; skip tests or exhibit other deviant behaviours to punish the parents. At the end of the day, so much efforts and resources are wasted.

Another reason parent choose career for their children is because most of these parents didn’t get the chance or opportunity to achieve their dreams due to financial issues or family matters. They therefore try to impose what they would have loved to become on their kids.

It is only better if both the parents and their children sit down and discuss career path as well as work hand-in-hand. That way, children can get more information and knowledge on career choices while parents also get to be part of the decision making.

Finally, children who make career decisions themselves end up being more productive and more successful because then they have the drive to pursue it and be productive.

Adeyemi Zara Oluwakemi

Ibadan