Parental guidance is the advice and support that our parents give us. Parental guidance is ongoing: our parents can carry on guiding us throughout our lives.
Parental guidance can be a noun or a verb.
As a noun, it means:
- Our parents’ word of advice.
- Our parents’ support.
As a verb it means:
- The act of caring for us that we get from our parents.
- The process of talking things through with our parents as they help us out.
- The almost invisible process by which our parents shape our lives with their support and their opinions.
Importance of parental guidance.
1. Keeping us safe.
Our parents’ guidance helps us to stay safe. One example is when our parents teach us not to go out alone at night when we are young.
2. Educating us.
Under our parents’ guidance, we learn many things, including literacy skills and counting. Even if our parents do not home school us, as we get older they still continue to guide our education. One example of how they do this is by encouraging us to do our homework when we get home from school.
3. Advice.
Our parents can also provide emotional guidance and support when we are dealing with some difficult issues. For example, if we have argued with a friend, our parents should be there to listen to our troubles if we want to talk them through and to provide us with advice if we need it.
4. Moral guidance.
Part of the guidance that our parents provide is moral guidance - teaching us right from wrong. Parents should empower us to feel like we always know what the right thing is and that we have the motivation and confidence to do it. This is something that it is best for us to learn from an early age - that way, it becomes an ingrained habit and we find it easier to be morally upright as adults.
5. Financial help.
Some of the guidance that our parents provide can be material as well as emotional. They can help us talk through our financial decisions and also provide us with the resources that we need to fulfil certain of our goals - for instance, putting down a deposit on a new house.
6. Guidance within society.
Our parents can teach us to be responsible citizens by teaching us about social virtues such as politeness, altruism and honesty. They can also teach us civic virtues like recycling, obeying the law, and the importance of paying taxes.
7. Practical guidance.
Our parents can also guide us with practical things. For example, they can teach us skills like cooking, making a cup of tea, paying a bill online or tying our shoelaces. Children should never be afraid to ask their parents for help with anything - no issue should be too big or too small.
Conclusion.
Parental guidance is so important in so many aspects of our life. We still rely on the guidance that our parents gave us when we are adults. So, it is crucial that parents take good care to guide their children well.
Laura