Are parents justified in pressuring their teenage children to get a college education?

by Kat Musselwhite

Created on: July 07, 2009   Last Updated: July 25, 2009

There is no question that all any good parent wants is the best for their children, but sometimes I think that it is important that a parent allows their offspring to make their own decisions. Surely, the "best" that any parent wants is for their child to have ultimate happiness, and if a person is not going to be happy at College (or University) then it seems incredibly unfair to pressure them into it. People need to be able to run their own lives, and if that means making mistakes, then it is their decision, and it is up to them to deal with them. I'm sure many parents want to protect their children, and make sure their futures are full of opportunities. But a College education does not guarantee a wonderful future, just as not getting a strong education does not necessarily mean that a person is going to either work in McDonald's for the rest of their lives, or be unemployed for a long time, because even highly educated people find themselves falling off the proverbial wagon.

I will use my own family as a prime example of how education can predict nothing in a child's future.

My eldest brother went to University and gained a good degree in Computers. In the over ten years since graduation he has worked his way up into a very successful career. He is an example of how parents would like the future of their child to be, but life is not so black and white, as my other brother and I demonstrate.

My other older brother left school at nineteen after three years studying for his A Levels, he chose not to go to University, because he was fed up with education. My parents weren't very happy, because he had so much intelligence and potential. They felt he was throwing his life away, but decided that it was up to him, and that to try and force him would only push him away from the family. He struggled a little at first, drifting from bar and security jobs to eventually falling into unemployment, and yes, he wasn't the happiest. But in the past two years, he has gained a very high paying job within a respected bank and is slowly working his way up the same way anybody with a degree would.

I, being the youngest, went to University and gained a Creative degree. I fall deeply in the middle of my two brothers, I have had jobs, but because I am creative, I have struggled a little, because my heart has never been in it. Writing has always been my passion, and whilst I enjoyed my degree and I don't regret doing it one little bit, I honestly believe that whether I had done a degree or not, I would still be the same person, struggling with my creativity in a world of regime.

I just think that whilst parents want what is best for their child, what is REALLY best for them, is to let them make their own decisions. They will appreciate you more for allowing them their freedom of mind.

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