The cost of living has become a major concern in the current world, and people direct their efforts to activities and engagements that are likely to ensure them a better tomorrow. Among the concerns is the rate of inflation that is a major cause of the economic dilemma in the consumption of various commodities in the consumer basket (Munroe, & Levine 31). One of the basic commodities that people have to consider is education. Nearly all countries of the world have constitutional provisions for the right to provide every child with some level of education.
Parents have an obligation to take care of their children, which includes taking them to school. Prior to 1965, in the USA, a child was considered to become an adult at the age of 21. At this age, a parent had no legal obligation to support their children on financial matters. However, in the 1970s, major changes took place, which included a reduction of the maturity age to 18 years. More students resorted to the courts with the demand for their parents to pay for college. Concerning the changes, parents have got a higher chance of not being legally bound to pay for their children's tuition. The higher demand, however, has made judges oblige parents to pay for their children where it is needed.
According to the law, it is not clear when parents should support their children financially. They are left free to decide on when to stop the financial backing, based on the family circumstances. Financial obligation has become more intense because of scarcity in the resources and increase in the general price level. In most countries, the fertility rate is high, while college tuition fee is rising at a high rate too. The result has been a squeeze in the parent budget constraints, which is limited by the accessible sources of finance. Labor markets, in many countries, are characterized by outcries for people seeking increased wages to meet the increasing demands of life.
In the situation of the rising cost of living, the question is what to choose and at the expense of what. Education is a necessity for a child, but there are many ways to fund education rather than out of the parents’ pocket funds (Brown 13). The next question that should come to mind should be based on cost-benefit assessments. It is an equally fundamental responsibility for the parent to raise a responsible child.
In the traditional family setup, parents in old age relied mainly on their children for financial support. However, changes in lifestyle have made people get concerned about their own future, given that people are becoming more focused on their personal life. There is no guarantee that one’s own kids will take care of one’s future. This mindset has been supported by the existence of the institution that enables people to save for their future. Based on this fact, and the challenges that children are facing due to dependency, many parents have found it suitable to stop giving financial support to their children in college. Such prioritizations have both desirable and undesirable effects (Brown 21). The essay will study both sides of the argument and will prove that, even though there are some positive moments in financing children at college, parents should stop paying college tuition.
To start with, there are reasons why a parent should consider paying the tuition fee for the children. This is because; children need adequate time to focus on their studies. Children's performance in college depends on their environment. Financial nags act as a hindrance to better performance, and, therefore, financial support may help a lot in their concentrations. Additionally, they would have much time to focus on their studies due to reduced working hours.
The financial ability of the parent to pay the fees should be considered. It is considered to be inappropriate if a child with a good background has to pay fees for him or herself. If the family is wealthy, the parent should pay the fees because there are no substantial benefits that can result from such a decision.
The future is associated with a lot of uncertainty, and the nature of man is to adverse risk. The major concern of a human being is to be sure of the possible sources of finance in the future, to handle the unforeseen eventualities. A more certain approach is perceived to engage in saving schemes that help to guarantee expenditure in the future.
Additionally, these savings do attract some interest, and hence, act as a form of investment. This, therefore, becomes a source of pressure that appeals to the parents to consider not paying tuition at the expense of savings for the future. A lot of governments have programs that support and encourage workers to engage in saving campaigns. In many countries, the government complements people's contributions to the savings schemes for the future through social institutions.
Based on the prevailing circumstances, it is possible to access loans for college tuition, but it may not be possible or even viable to borrow funds to save for the future. As such, many parents are finding it increasingly difficult to wait for an additional five years, to finance the studies of their children, who are able to access funds through other means.
Failure to pay the tuition fee for the child means increased responsibilities concerning his/her performance. A parent is likely to pressurize their child, to encourage him/her to put more energy in his or her studies and access other sources of funds. There are chances that students will strive to achieve higher grades in their performance to meet the requirements for scholarships. This strategy may be preferred by the parent, as it is unfavorable for children to get low grades, below their potential. Parents, therefore, may engage in a deliberate move of not paying the fees, simply to encourage their children to work hard and learn to earn or get financial assistance from other sources.
In the recent past, there have been cases where young men/women in mind 20’s act just like teenagers and rely on their parents on everything that they need. In most cases, a child perceives himself or herself to be a mature and responsible person at the age of around 24 when they are done with their studies. However, there are avenues that may help a parent make their children get responsible earlier than this.
Many parents want to see their children become responsible and understand the facts of life. Parents also have a belief that there are some positive impacts on the experiences of paying tuition fees at an early age. The society does not encourage children, who remain at their home to old age without becoming self-dependent.
Ideally, the parent has a duty to take care of their parent and guarantee security to their children. This kind of relationship may be very favorable for very young children. However, as the child grows, it is important to consider letting the young person experience the real world in a more exposed way. Financial security is one thing that gives a lot of pride to the children and should be provided with some limits, to avoid overreliance.
When a child gets used to an environment that guarantees access to funds whenever required, it adapts to a sense of security, which may not be real. This hinders the creativity of some children, and they may not understand the risks associated with their dependence. These are mostly demonstrated when such student loses their parents’ support. These students may end up dropping out of school when such sources are shut, or rely desperately on well-wishers, who may not be readily available.
Sometimes, such false security acts as a barrier to perceiving the real world. This makes it difficult for the student to begin living on their own when they are done with their studies. By failing to pay the tuition fees, life after college will just be a continuation of the same college experiences. Financial independence at the college may act as a way of strengthening the base for a well established, successful life after graduation.
Laziness is a vice that society should fight. One way to ensure that a student does not become lazy is by engaging them in productive activities. At college, children have a lot of free time to spend on their own, and this does not always mean much time for studies. Rather, they have a lot of idle time that could be used differently. Sometimes, misuse of this time may result in some destructive activities, such as drug dealing. Much of the free time available to a student in college may not be used to meet friends and go out, which leads to wastage of the working time (Marshall 20). By failing to pay the tuition, it will act as an inbuilt controlling mechanism that will ensure the children put the time available to them into proper use.
There is a tendency among children to spend extravagantly simply because they do not understand the difficulties encountered in raising such money. Some students on campus cannot understand the need to save, as they receive all their money from the parents. They may engage in drug-taking and other activities that may put their life at risk, as well as in making friends that may not benefit them at all.
By failing to pay their tuition fee, a student will have to become responsible for their financial expenditure. They will understand the essence of budgeting and prioritizing: skills that are necessary for life. This may save the parent from other expenditures apart from tuition fees, as well as benefit the child in the future. Having learned from the crisis as they raise their own funds, students are likely to inculcate the economic usage of resources.
In the process of working, students are bound to meet new friends. This may help in bringing a student with similar skills, talents, and knowledge together. Such grouping may help in developing inborn skills, as well as forming a basis to establish future working ventures. This way, a parent may help promote the discovery of potential within their children. At the same time, students are able to meet the older folks, which facilitates networking for personal development. Knowing the value of work has a positive effect on developing work ethics.
In conclusion, it is obvious that parents should not contribute to their child's college tuition. This is beneficial both to the parents, college students and society as a whole. By paying the college tuition to the child, it is an implication that the person should do the same to his/her offspring. At the same time, the burden for payment will always be imposed on the current generation of parents for the benefit of those in the future. To ensure that the financial burden rests on the right group of people, debt financing should be considered.
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