I have always believed that people who make an effort, study, set goals, persevere despite obstacles… are the ones who succeed. This was taught to me by my parents, of whom I was not very attentive at the beginning and that later, based on “butts” I managed to amend, always surpassing myself until I achieved what was proposed: teacher for more than 40 years… and those that are missing.
My parents were very strict up to a point: scolding, punishment (not going to parties). Perhaps the role of mom in telling me “…I’ll tell your father, so that…”, being more benevolent, was to give him strength (far from gender equality) to fear him, if I didn’t do my homework or if my grades were low and worse when they called me to attention for failing in a subject and crisis when I physically fought with one of my fellow students. Fortunately, many of this nonsense was being understood and eradicated over time. They were right!
But as a social, human being, it was up to me what I considered personally, to transmit the best values, to try to ensure that the possible mistakes made had less impact on my descendants (it is clear to me that no one punishes someone else, but it is up to us as parents, educate them)
There are many factors that are attributed to genetics, a science that studies the hereditary transmission of anatomical, cytological and functional characteristics from parents to children. If we specify a bit, some personality traits are transmitted, but another element that influences and is not genetic is the environment. Yes, that “set of circumstances or social, cultural, moral, economic, professional factors, etc., that surround a thing or a person, community or time and influence its state or development”.
What is all of the above, you ask?
Recently I received a call from my daughter, telling me that she thanked me for all my insistence that she always study hard, for recent achievements –those words left me paralyzed–, a fact that moved years ago to not wanting to study a language (which consisted of several levels) and that had been postponed because there was “a lot of academic load” in addition to regular studies. The measure was “… repeat it again, study, high grades… and that when she graduated she would reimburse me for the cost of the course…”.
I am not clear if beyond the global and current problems, to violate Human Rights (in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, adopted and proclaimed by the General Assembly in its resolution 217 A (III), on December 10, 1948 and in particular article 12 (part of it) “No one shall be the object of arbitrary interference in their private life…”), would I have made the mistake of acting with justice and not acting with the role of “good”?
In my time, I have no doubt that human rights were violated, but for today’s parents, the demand, the call for attention with concrete and tangible elements, with educational sanctions that allow young people to reflect, are not at odds with the Human rights. Coincidentally, in article 26 of the Universal Declaration, paragraph 3 states “parents shall have a preferential right to choose the type of education that shall be given to their children.” I am inclined to belong to the side of the just (which is very difficult to be) and not to the side of the good. And you?
