Dear Sirs and Mas,
My elders, I greet you all. I am writing this open letter on behalf of all your children and your children's children to bring to your notice our plight as young ones in this generation.
We live our lives, not the way we want it, but usually the way you want it or the way you have trained us to live it. Since we are under your tutelage, you are responsible for guiding us in the right path. This does not however mean that you should be the one to choose our destinations. It is OUR life. We have our own ambitions, our own goals in life, our talent, our skills, our emotions, our social life and so on. It is our belief that you are not supposed to be the ones to choose our career for us amongst other things that could determine a lot in our future. We believe strongly that you are supposed to try to guide us right as our guardian angels and not try to make all our decisions for us, even God doesn't do that.
As your children and children's children, we want our voice to be heard. I tell you, we are smarter than you give us credit for. There's stuff our generation knows that you don't. We want you to acknowledge that fact and at least listen to us once in a while. It gives us a sense of worth and goes a long way to boost our self-esteem. It shows you believe in our ability to think and make right decisions.
We understand that discipline is key to bringing up a child with the right moral values but we think some of you parents overdo things. There are better ways to scold a child than torture. In fact, in some of us, excessive torture only brings out adaptation which makes the punishment counter-productive. I won't want to dwell more on this point so I won't be punished ☺.
We need encouragement. Don't decide that we are incapable of completing a task even when we have tried out. Give us a chance and encourage us to perform. We really need our family to believe in us and support us. It gives us the boost we need.
Finally, it is our belief that the more we grow and learn, the less you should meddle in our private affairs. We are entitled to choosing our own dates, choosing our life partners, choosing where to live, choosing our own religious beliefs and affiliations, choosing our own food, choosing our own style of clothing, etcetera. Like I said earlier we will always appreciate your contributions to making our lives better in form of advice. But, we don't want you making decisions for us without consulting us or getting approval from us.
It is our life.
Signed
J.B
On behalf of
Your children
And your children's children