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Parents Worries

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Gloria, Shirley, and Andy are now discussing child education and social problems after reading very astonishing news that the education of children is really a big problem.

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G:  Yes. I even read the news that children beat their parents.

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S:  That is too much. I think it is a very difficult thing to teach a child many things about behavior.

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A:  Yes. With all kinds of influence these days, it can be a hard struggle to teach children the differences between what¡¦s right and wrong.

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G:  We know children these days are instilled with mixed messages from their peers, TV and the internet.

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S:  It seems that parents have more and more things to worry about.

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A:  It¡¦s true. But parents should learn to use all the help they can get.

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G:  In fact, children will imitate many things from what their parents have done.

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S:  That means parents should set the right examples.

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A:  Of course. It is also the best way to instill moral values. You know, monkey sees what monkeys do.

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G:  I did read an article. It said that parents often unintentionally send the wrong signals which give them bad examples. But frankly, I might have failed some of its high standards.

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S:  Like what?

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G:  For instance, if you find lost money, you should return it to its owner. Although it is the right conduct, I don¡¦t think I can do it that way.

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A:  I can¡¦t do well, either. But it is the way to teach children not to keep things that don¡¦t belong to them and to be considerate of others.

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S:  Another example is we sometimes slip out a four-letter-word unconsciously. It is a bad example to children. 

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G:  We have to be mindful of many things in front of children.

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A:  We often can¡¦t do well the right conducts school has taught us. For instance, telling a white lie. Although it is given from good mind, it looks like we are teaching children to tell lies.  

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S:  But it is almost impossible to go through life without ever telling a lie.

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A:  Yes. Nobody¡¦s perfect. I guess we just need to be more conscious of our actions in the presence of children.

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G:  That¡¦s right. But parents still have other things to worry about. Kidnapping and fraud have become more and more common.

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S:  That is so terrible. Swindler will call the parents claiming that their child had been kidnapped.

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A:  And if the sum of money demanded is not paid right away, the child will be hurt or killed.

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G:  Then the poor parent frantically runs out to pay the ransom only to find out later that their child is ok the whole time.

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S:  It really makes me angry. It is so difficult to be parents.

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A:  Parents are now having less time to stay company with their children because many parents are both working. And children learn information from school as well as from the TV and internet.

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G:  But isn¡¦t TV including a lot of violent and obscene programs? Internet also is root of wicked things.

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S:  Children might make bad friends on the internet and learn bad things from them. Those friends also can affect children¡¦s behavior. They even seduce them to commit young delinquency like child prostitution ¡V using their body to earn money. They don¡¦t know to plant their feet on solid ground; they only want to reach the sky in a single bound.   .

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A:  Right. Because nowadays child population in each household is decreasing, children are pampered by parents that they lose their innocent mind at quite early age. They become sophisticated quite young.

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G:  Right. Just like my younger brother who is second grade in elementary school. When I talk with him, I find the generation gap between us. Sometimes, his performance is more mature than mine. 

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S:  It¡¦s true. If children are in touch with these terrible things so early, I rather choose to be childless even getting married.

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A:  In the future, parents need to spend more time to accompany their children and teach them to tell apart right from wrong.

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G:  Educating children in a society of so many problems is not easy.

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S:  However, we should be aware of these problems and try to overcome them. 

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A:  That¡¦s right. We still have more to learn in the future.  
   

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By Gloria Chen, Shirley Liang and Andy Lin

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