Al-Madina I never expected my four-year-old granddaughter to have this much right awareness at this small age. While having lunch at a restaurant I asked my daughter to order for a cup of ice cream for the little girl after going through the menu. But she objected and said "Let me select what I want." This means she was not happy with my intervention and selection. She took the menu booklet and selected the sweet she liked the most. Even though she finally selected ice cream, she wanted to prove that she was aware of her right to select at that early age. I acknowledged the little girl's right to select what she wanted to eat without imposing our choice on her. We often think that we don't impose our decision or selection on our children under the pretext that we know what our children want and being the elderly we have the right to intervene. My granddaughter's objection and her words "I will select what I want" still amaze me. Her insistence showed that she wanted to establish her freedom of choice. Who knows that she wanted to refuse guardianship of even the most loved ones as she was sitting beside me, enjoying my care and pampering. Can we say that she was wrong by refusing my suggestion? The issue occupied my mind and thinking for quite some time and I even discussed it with my friends in the restaurant who also expressed their amazement at the girl's smart reply. Our discussion then centered on how to deal with the new generation that knows much more than what we had learned at that small age and even at this elderly age, especially on its rights. May be I am not wrong because of the values that shaped my life and my children. I can say with confidence that my granddaughter had not exceeded her limits or showed disobedience by making that objection because she has grown up with a new set of values supported by modern technologies and communication means, whose basics we still wanted to learn. Of course this is their age, which has provided them with new technologies and they are capable of handling new communication devices easily and efficiently even at early ages. This means this generation demands a new kind of education with teachers recognizing this huge technological and civilizational advancement. This goes against the culture of shame we had learned and practiced during our childhood, which destroyed our wishes and ambitions and has no meaning in modern dictionary. Sometimes I find myself confronted by new generations having deep knowledge and capable of convincing others. I am unable to justify some of the things they cannot deal with including school teachers and curriculum that does not fulfill their intellectual requirements. Our educators should be aware of the cultural divide between us and the new generation that is flooded with knowledge provided by social media networks. No doubt the Internet and the social media networks have played a big role in expanding the knowledge and understanding of new generation. This should not be taken as expansion of the divide between the two groups. However, parents, families and teachers should be aware of this cultural gap and should not impose their old values and systems on children. I don't mean here moral values, etiquette of dealings and respect for others. I mean the values of human rights that have been recorded in the UN Charter of Children's Rights, which was passed on Nov. 20, 1989, which has not received proper attention. The development wheel should not stop and at the same time we have to develop new ways and means to deal with the new generation that knows more than what we know and we should not push them to be alone busy with their cell phones and iPads. These young minds love to interact with their mates and colleagues and those who can understand and accommodate their capabilities and requirements. Unfortunately, some of these youth abandoned by their families and societies, have fallen in the abyss of terrorism.
