Silent Sacrifices

I went to a rehearsal and watched a video called "Silent Sacrifices". I listened and watched many Filipinos and Filipino Americans' bad experiences:

• A teenage Filipina was bad at school, but she couldn't say that to her parents, they would surely reply,"Why are you not good at school, school should be easy".
• A teenage Filipino was expected to repair the damaged pipes and other domestic staff, even though he didn't liked to do it.
• From an article that was being passed through the class, I read about a teenage Filipina who wanted to commit suicide because her father forbade her to phone her boyfriend.

I have a classmate whose parents pushed him to do his best, though this expectation became a heavy stressor. Another fellow classmate had parents who worked in 4 different jobs and worked for 14 hours a day the whole week, including weekends. The lack of attention and communication left an empty space that can't be filled in one's heart. Even my PD-100 teacher had bad experiences with her mother.

The cases I listened to were caused by parents with high expectations for their children, parents who lacked communication with their sons and daughters, or authoritarian parents who exhibited excessive control over their children. 

 

Then the next question stroke my mind," What would you do if you were a parent right now? How many hours should I spend with my children? Is it really good to work as many hours as I can? How can I become I supportive father? What shall I do to prevent my children from committing suicide? 

I've never though of being a parent before.Thinking about myself, I am at the age of having kids, many people at my age are already parents, my identity as Raul the son and student could become as Raul the father in a couple of years. By analyzing the bad experiences I listened to, I gained advice on how to have a good relationship with my kids if I become a father, that is what I took for granted out from this experience.