Parenting

My 10-year-old daughter Aditi wants to attend an extracurricular class with a friend and I am not okay with the idea. How do I deal with this?

Answered by Team ParentCircle

Arundhati Swamy, family counselor and head of Parent Engagement Programmes at ParentCircle has the following take on this situation.

It’s always a tricky situation when a parent has an issue with their child’s friend. And you have to tread carefully because friends mean so much to each other. Imposing restrictions on what they want to do together usually ends up in conflict. Unless you try a different approach.

While it’s great that you recognize your daughter will need your help, would you care to step back, for a moment, and understand the deeper reasons for your decision? It’s always helpful to explore life experiences that lead you to make decisions on behalf of your child. Or, you could come across as being controlling and unreasonable.

A better long-term solution to the situation would be to work things out together. The mutual sharing would strengthen your daughter’s ability to solve problems, besides building her trust in you.

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