A Suffocating Grasp
“Why can’t I go out?” I questioned her, my heart pounding, and arms quivering. She simply sighed.
“Samar, this isn’t Canada, it’s not safe he-”
“But you let Hammad go, he’s younger than me!”
“It’s not the same…”
“What’s not the same?”, I knew full well what was to come next, but I pressed anyways.
“He’s a boy”
Now, I was never one to disobey the rules, especially not the rules of my parents. There would always be a little voice in my head, and a tug at my heart when I thought of doing so, telling me to listen to them, but this time was different. This was a matter of my freedom. I pushed myself off the floor and stormed out of the door, slamming it as I left. At that moment, I did not care for the yelling voices …show more content…
This thought made me think about the negative associations with the words ‘rebel’, and made me reconsider what it meant to go against the wishes of one’s parents. However, not all stories are like Ausaf’s, and there is a reason why there are negative connotations with the word ‘rebel’. The author of the autobiography House Rules, Racheal Sontag, is an ideal example of this reason. Rachel 's father’s rules were simple: do not wear makeup and do not stay out of the house after 11. However, it was the harsh punishments in response to breaking these rules which caused Rachel to crave a sense of freedom which she never had. When she was younger, she would brush aside these rules as necessary, yet, as she grew into a teenager, she took less and less of it. She would go out on drives, drink with unknown boys and stay out past her curfew while her friend did not. Racheal knew that “she [her friend] did not value her time out of the house like I [Racheal] did” (Sontag 48). Her father’s overprotectiveness and her mother’s lack of support resulted in Racheal continuously participating in risky events which were completely against her house rules to either agitate her parents, or gain the freedom she never …show more content…
Nonetheless there is a great difference in the consequences of someone who was not nearly as sheltered, such as I, rebelling compared to someone like Robert White. White is a preteen whose mother would go to immeasurable lengths to ‘protect’ him and his siblings. She sheltered them, monitored them, even completed their homework. By the time Robert was 14, he wanted to learn for himself, which is why he fought with his mom to complete his own homework, stating that “it’s time for me to learn” (White 2013). However, there are more permanent consequences to overprotective parenting than that which meets the eye. When children rebel against their parents overprotectiveness, they are immediately put at a disadvantage compared to their peers. Because Robert decided to write his own essay he was able to learn, but he was also much less knowledgeable about writing compared to his classmates, who have written many essay by themselves. His mother 's overprotectiveness resulted in Robert getting a less-than-average grade due to his inability to support
“Why can’t I go out?” I questioned her, my heart pounding, and arms quivering. She simply sighed.
“Samar, this isn’t Canada, it’s not safe he-”
“But you let Hammad go, he’s younger than me!”
“It’s not the same…”
“What’s not the same?”, I knew full well what was to come next, but I pressed anyways.
“He’s a boy”
Now, I was never one to disobey the rules, especially not the rules of my parents. There would always be a little voice in my head, and a tug at my heart when I thought of doing so, telling me to listen to them, but this time was different. This was a matter of my freedom. I pushed myself off the floor and stormed out of the door, slamming it as I left. At that moment, I did not care for the yelling voices …show more content…
This thought made me think about the negative associations with the words ‘rebel’, and made me reconsider what it meant to go against the wishes of one’s parents. However, not all stories are like Ausaf’s, and there is a reason why there are negative connotations with the word ‘rebel’. The author of the autobiography House Rules, Racheal Sontag, is an ideal example of this reason. Rachel 's father’s rules were simple: do not wear makeup and do not stay out of the house after 11. However, it was the harsh punishments in response to breaking these rules which caused Rachel to crave a sense of freedom which she never had. When she was younger, she would brush aside these rules as necessary, yet, as she grew into a teenager, she took less and less of it. She would go out on drives, drink with unknown boys and stay out past her curfew while her friend did not. Racheal knew that “she [her friend] did not value her time out of the house like I [Racheal] did” (Sontag 48). Her father’s overprotectiveness and her mother’s lack of support resulted in Racheal continuously participating in risky events which were completely against her house rules to either agitate her parents, or gain the freedom she never …show more content…
Nonetheless there is a great difference in the consequences of someone who was not nearly as sheltered, such as I, rebelling compared to someone like Robert White. White is a preteen whose mother would go to immeasurable lengths to ‘protect’ him and his siblings. She sheltered them, monitored them, even completed their homework. By the time Robert was 14, he wanted to learn for himself, which is why he fought with his mom to complete his own homework, stating that “it’s time for me to learn” (White 2013). However, there are more permanent consequences to overprotective parenting than that which meets the eye. When children rebel against their parents overprotectiveness, they are immediately put at a disadvantage compared to their peers. Because Robert decided to write his own essay he was able to learn, but he was also much less knowledgeable about writing compared to his classmates, who have written many essay by themselves. His mother 's overprotectiveness resulted in Robert getting a less-than-average grade due to his inability to support