Smart Kids, Stupid Parents

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I spent last Sunday evening in my brother-in-law’s house. The whole family looked pretty serious towards the TV screen, where the loud volume of people yelling, screaming and crying mixed with the sound of a very loud ‘adzan‘ from a nearby mosque. It was chaotic. But everyone seems to be enjoying the TV so much. As I gaze to the screen, there it was. Hosted by Mandala, the (not-so-real) reality show “termehek-mehek” has brought out the emotion of the whole family.

A father, a mother, with two boys of age 13 and 9, all eyes to the scene where someone is pushing someone else, screaming, and crying. And suddenly, the father decided to show his wrath, saying.. “What are you waiting for?! Go hit him until he collapse!” (or in Bahasa Jawa/Surabaya, “ngenteni opo seh? ayo ndang diantemi sampek pingsan..!!)

Shocked, I escorted my 2.5 year-old son out of the room for clean air..

Parenting is not an easy job, and that is why we’re far from perfect. But supporting a violent act in front of the kids? I think you can do better.

The above experience is just an example, a clear portrayal of how insensitive we are towards the future of our next generation. Here we are saying bad things about our government, but at the same time we are also the ones who are creating a violent habit within our own children. A simple emotions while watching a stupid show might not be that significant, but if you repeat it again and again, who’s exactly destroying our future generations?

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