Editorial: Parents Shouldn’t Influence Their Child’s Career

Allyson Lin, Copy Editor

here was a recent survey that found 40% of people felt they were pressured to follow their parent’s career advice, according to Parents

The older we get, the more encouraged we are to be independent. This is the case of most young people who are in their journey of self-discovery and learning what they want to do with their life. 

Sometimes, parents feel strongly about the path their kids should take and often influence their decision-making. Gen Z, Millennials, and Gen X were asked “How much did your parents influence or try to influence your career?” The results concluded that 52.1% of Gen Z strongly felt that their parents influenced or tried to influence their career choice, 49.9% of Millennials, and 45.7% of Gen X felt the same, according to Joblist

Parent interest is everything from school to career choices. 

1 in 10 Gen-Zers said their parents tried to influence their career paths when they were about 5 years old or younger, according to Parents. 40% felt pressed to listen to their parents’ advice. Additionally, almost 2 in 3 parents said they were disappointed that their child didn’t follow their desired career path. 

While parents can voice their opinions about what their child should do as a career, they sometimes need to be able to accept the fact that their child may not like the advice. Kids should be able to find their path on what they want to do with their life. 

As long as their child is not involved in something that may be illegal, parents should be able to step down when dealing with their child’s career choices. 

It’s time for parents to let their kid go and trust that they know what’s best for themselves. If parents truly want to change, they should start by exposing their children to a range of activities so they can develop skills and experience various things.