撰文：香港家庭教育學院總監狄志遠博士
在家長教育的路途上，筆者最愛聆聽家長們分享管教子女的心得和反思，彼此交流和鼓勵，是最立體的家長教育內容。世界上沒有要求家長必須考試合格才可生兒育女的地方，大家都是邊做邊學，後知後覺，慢慢地成為了「有年資」的家長，兒女對你有期待，社會對你有要求，家長自覺也不能躲懶，紛紛學習子女管教的理論和技巧。
記得有一位爸爸分享如何處理讀中二的兒子要求買球鞋的訴求。他對兒子說會給他四百元，兒子當然覺得不夠用，但這位爸爸告訴兒子四百元是可以買到一對球鞋的，如果覺得不夠，那就自己想辦法好了。最後，兒子買到心儀的球鞋，但代價是省下早午餐錢買回來的；他說兒子買到新球鞋雖感開心，但同時也經歷了挨餓的日子，以後也會想清楚才會買東西。這位爸爸表示心裡當然會感「肉赤」，但想到要兒子明白追求物質要量力而為的道理時，也要狠下心腸，讓兒子好好體會。
Written by: Dr. Chi-Yuen TIK, Chief Executive, The Hong Kong Institute of Family Education
In the journey of parental education, I love to listen to parents share their experiences and reflections on disciplining their children. Exchanging and encouraging each other is the most comprehensive content of parenting education. There is no place in the world that requires parents to pass an exam before they can have children. Everyone is learning as they go, realizing things later on, and gradually becoming “experienced” parents. Children have expectations of you, society has demands on you, and parents themselves cannot afford to be lazy, so they actively learn theories and techniques for disciplining their children.
I remember a father sharing how he dealt with his son’s request to buy sneakers when the son was in the eighth grade. He told his son he would give him four hundred dollars. Naturally, the son felt it was not enough, but the father told him that four hundred dollars could buy a pair of sneakers, and if it wasn’t enough, the son would have to figure it out himself. In the end, the son bought the sneakers he wanted, but the price was saving his breakfast and lunch money to make the purchase. He said although his son was happy with the new sneakers, he also experienced days of hunger, and in the future, he would think carefully before making a purchase. The father expressed that it was tough for him to see his son go through this, but he thought it was important for his son to understand the principle of living within one’s means, even if it meant letting his son experience it firsthand.
又在一次主講如何培養幼兒子女的自理能力的講座中，有一位K3學生的媽媽分享兒子總是依賴她收拾功課。久而久之，兒子對她的依賴越來越多，在痛定思痛後，媽媽嘗試應用從家長講座學回來的，她告訴兒子自己的事要自己做，媽媽不再為他收拾書包，也有心理準備兒子因此被老師指責欠交功課。事情如預期中發展，兒子為了不再被老師責備，唯有親力親為，每天自行收拾書包；雖然兒子暫時未必明白自理責任的重要性，但他已開始著緊自己的事情，不再依賴媽媽的「幫忙」，而這位媽媽也不再為兒子做出無建設性的幫忙和照顧。
畢竟，課堂學習是愉快的，但實戰應用卻是招招入肉的，當中苦樂參半，在應用子女管教技巧的同時，也是挑戰著家長的個人價值觀和人生經驗，家長也要有平衡心態和自我反思的覺醒，這正正也是家長教育的目的。
During a lecture on how to cultivate self-care abilities in young children, a mother of a K3 student shared that her son always relied on her to pack up his homework. Over time, her son’s dependence on her increased. After much reflection, the mother decided to apply what she had learned from parenting seminars. She told her son that he needed to take care of his own things and that she would no longer pack his school bag for him. She was also mentally prepared for her son to be reprimanded by the teacher for not handing in his homework. As expected, to avoid further scolding from the teacher, the son started to pack his school bag by himself every day. Although he may not yet fully understand the importance of taking responsibility for his own affairs, he has begun to take his own matters seriously and no longer relies on his mother’s “help.” The mother also stopped providing unconstructive help and care for her son.
After all, classroom learning is enjoyable, but practical application can be painfully insightful, with a mix of joys and challenges. While applying parenting techniques, it is also a challenge to the parents’ personal values and life experiences. Parents also need to have a balanced mindset and self-awareness. This is precisely the purpose of parenting education.
