Paradise Under Your Feet — Page 164
164 Need Versus Want How many times have you heard a child saying, “ Mommy, I really need this ” ? Most of the time children and adults do not distinguish between what is a ‘ need ’ and what is a ‘ want ’. It is natural for parents to shower their children with material things that are really not necessities. Yes, some of the ‘ toys ’ that are given to children can be considered ‘ educational ’ , but most of the time , these toys are just noise makers with no re al value in them. So, it is training on the part of the parent to exercise control over what is given to a child. This should be exercised from infancy. Once the parents and the children become aware of the difference between ‘ need ’ and ‘ want ’ it be comes e asier to set the rules. For example, Hazrat Khalifatul - Masih V (aba) has warned about giving young children cell phones in an address to Atfal: “ There is a widespread problem here of children demanding their parents to buy them mobile phones. Some are only just 10 years of age and say that they should have a mobile phone. Are you doing some sort of business? Or are you are doing some kind of work in which information is required to be accessed every minute? When asked, they reply “ we need to call our parents. ” If needed, your parents will call you themselves. If your parents are not worried, there is also no need for you to worry, because phones can also lead to bad habits. Through phones, some people contact children directly and then tempt them and incite them into bad habits and involve them in indecent activities. So, the mobile phone is also a very harmful thing, due to which children lose all good sense and get involved in wrongdoings, so avoid this. ” A3. 1