THE FATE OF MY DEVIANT CHILD

In philosophy, we were made to understand that children are born with a mind that could be likened to a plane slate "tabula raza". This means that they come in with no rules or programs for analyzing or processing data. They're a product of nature and nurture, and so their minds tend to be formed by the information and experiences they get over the years.

If that be the case, it is almost certain that a child born into a certain religion and culture would follow up in that line of worship and that way of life, and also it is very unlikely that a child born into a certain religion or culture would change or want to change to another, and this is due to the fact that they've been so grounded and indoctrinated in that belief system and way of life. These believes and cultures have entered deeply into the fabrics of their being and so a change is almost impossible.

But like our prompt for the day asks, what if our child decides to make the unusual change, what if a child of ours decides to deviate from the ways of life, culture or religion in which we had brought them up and they now steer a different course, what would be our reaction ?

Personally, I hope and plan to train my child in the best way possible. I hope to instill good virtues and help them imbibe good cultures. I am a Christian and there is a passage in our Bible that says " train up a child in the way he should go, and when he is old he will not depart from it". Although I plan to help my children develop an open mind, I plan to educate them so well that they become logical and rational thinkers but that not withstanding, I do not expect that they would deviate from the teachings and path they followed while growing up.

Considering the fact that I know that I had brought my kids up rightly, I can't tell how exactly I would react but I know for sure that I would not accept any of such changes so easily. Religion and culture is a very important to me and to humans in general and it's not something that I can easily overlook.

As for my reactions, firstly, I would want to know why they made such changes. I would want to know when they started nursing the thoughts of a change and what triggered or inspired it. I would also want to know what they found wrong with the previous ways I had taught them and why they think their new found ways or beliefs are the true ways.

I would engage him in a conversation and try to understand why and how the whole change happened.
I would have that child try to convince and convert me to his new found ways and he would have to do so with rational explanations.
I would then try to debunk all false theories and ideas but if I find what he says much more convincing and reasonable than what I had practiced and held omto before, I may just let him have his way.

Being the kind of person that I am. I would always try to persuade and convince him to return to the ways of the family as I believe that when people have same value and belief system, they become more united and progressive.

There is really not much we can do if our children especially the ones over the ages of 18 decides to make such changes in their life. We should just hope and pray that we find the fortitude to still accept them.