A pastor in Ndumberi Location in Kiambu County has advised parents to allow their children choose their career courses without interference so that they can pursue what they will enjoy doing in future.
According to Pastor Eric Kimani of Joy Ministries, some parents have caused many youths to ruin their lives after being forced to undertake courses which pleased their parents and not the children.
Pastor Kimani made these remarks today following an incident in which a young man sought his intervention after he complained that his parents had chased him away after he declined to enrol for a business management course.
He said he preferred taking a course in Law, but his parents did not support his idea and threatened that he was not going to listen to them, he should leave.
Pastor Kimani said forcing certain careers down their children’s throats did not augur well as it made them more rebellious and most of them ended up messing their lives.
Peter Mwangi, a youth at Kangoya village said he was forced to do nursing at Kenya Medical Training Institute (KMTC) by his parents and on reaching his final year of study, he dropped out and opted to do construction jobs as his parents refused to allow him to venture into journalism which was his passion.
He said that being forced to pursue something that one does not have any passion in, was like piercing that person to the heart and lowering their motivation spirit.
Pastor Kimani said that parents should allow their children to choose their career paths and only advise, guide and support them to achieve their dreams.
He said that failure to support a child’s passion was perceived as being uncaring and unloving and the student tended to feel that their opinion does not matter to the parent as they want their children to achieve what they failed to when they were growing up.
He urged parents to support their children’s choices and listen to their ideas as they may be talented in one area and would be forced to abandon it due to parental pressure.