Do parents have any rights in deciding their child's future?

I'm unsure of this, but I kind of agree and disagree, at the same time

 

Yes they have, they feed you, they bath you, they educate you, because they "know better", and we could not fend for ourselves.

There are some liberties sure, we are human ... but most of our "liberty" is cultural, and being "less free" works fine in other cultures, like until some centuries ago all marriages were fixed by the parents, the idea of "romantic love/marriage" is new... and even being "less free" we (as people) did ok.

At some point you grow up and you can rebel against whatever your parents tried to taught you, but you can only be truly free when you stop free loading them, so to be free is to be able to live alone, until that day you always have to give up some liberty.

If I were a father I would try to give certain freedom to my kids, only because I know that what is forbidden is also what we want to do more! If you treat your kids like reasonable people it will be easier to reason with them. At the same time they ought to know that you are not their friend, your are not their equal you are a father, a boss.

 

well, i say yes and no. i guess it would be easier to state certain situations i think they should and shouldn't. for example, a parent should not be pushing a kid to be a doctor or a politician if that's not what the kid wants to be. but at the same time, i'd be understanding if a parent intervenes when they notice their kid becomes an alcoholic or a drug dealer.

 

Of course parents have the rights to do so, however, that doesn't necessarily mean that the child will go about their exact "wants"
It also depends on what subject of their child's future they are trying to decide on.
If they want their child to grow up well-behaved, mannered, obedient, etc etc etc.....then yes, I can see where they would have the right to decide on that. Being that if they prefer a "well taught/mannered" adult, then that is how the child should be taught as they get older so that they become accustomed to these acts and "adapt" them.
If the parent wants to decide on the future career or what their child should do with their lives, I can see them having the right to point their child in the right direction to what they would "like" to see them do, but it should be the child's own decision when it's their time to decide.
Of course, even with the parents having the right to do so, the child may still go astray. So even being well-mannered growing up, they may be a complete opposite being older.

I, personally, (if I had a child) would not decide on my child's future (aside from teaching them manners, etc....ya ya), but there are people who believe they should for the better.
So I suppose, yes they have the right to do so. However, even with the parent's "right", it's most based on the child than the parent.

 

Only as far as how much freedom they have as a kid and where they should go to school, but things like hobbies, as long as it's not ruining their lives or causing trouble with what they like to do, who are we to tell them what to do with their lives?

 

I think they have rights in a sense of keeping you alive and doing everything they can but not over what the child decides to do with their lives. I don't think a parent has the right to say "you must go into this profession" or "you can't be gay" as the child is their own person- they govern what they do it their lives and I think parents should respect that, yes they have spent the last 18 or so years caring for the child and bringing them up but that doesn't give them the right to say what the child can or can't do past this point. It's up to the parents to bring up the children and keep them alive in their earlier years and that may affect what they want to do when they are older but they are separate people so parents shouldn't control their children like they have to listen because of everything the parents did for them. Sure be thankful but it doesn't give the parents the right to dictate their lives. A friend of a friend commited suicide after their parents said she couldn't go to college because she had to carry on their business, she wanted to go on and be a doctor but her parents refused to pay for college and she ended up taking her own life. I believe you could put the child through an eternity of suffering if you pigeon hole them into doing something they don't want to do.

 

Here's the thing though: freedom is expensive, and to get money you need a job. Shouldn't a person be able to decide how he will afford his freedom?

 

That's exclusively in the thought that you need money to survive, which it isn't, but it is only a means to survive but there are many ways to do so.

And more importantly, is that you place a monetary value on freedom, that it is somehow only obtainable with buying things, where many would argue relying on money is what causes constraint and keeps us from freedom.

Certain religions see that the earthly realm as a constraint from enlightenment, which is the ultimate form of freedom to many Eastern philosophies and religions. People do not decide when they are free or not, there is no vast category of freedom that makes someone be and feel free.

I find freedom is that I can do anything I want in life and i am able to deal with the things that are uncontrollable and react the best i can. Some people wouldn't say that's freedom, but that's what i find freedom to be. It's too subjective to the individual to when they feel free, and when they don't.