The internet, smartphones and technology as a whole combined with social media and peers has amplified how impactful culture truly is. Preteens may be bopping to Rihanna, Taylor Swift or other popular artists because their classmates share the newest music or because their families and circle of friends share the same taste in music. Then, of course, there’s the music that parent’s “just don’t understand,” insert 90’s Fresh Prince song here.
There are instances, however, when parents truly are concerned with their child’s level of passion for a particular style of music or artist. Take the K-Pop craze for example. It is not a genre that parents might easily connect with because it’s very much a new generational sound, but it has taken the music industry by storm and from it stems gaggles of crazed fans everywhere.
It’s this very K-Pop obsession that taught one mom a valuable lesson in parenting and acceptance. In an insightful and heartwarming article, Radhika Oltikar describes how what she thought was a mere teenager obsession turned into a concrete realization.
It started with a simple question: “Mom, do you think I’ll ever meet Jungkook?”
As one of the heartthrobs of the world famous K-Pop band BTS, Jungkook was the one who caught her daughter’s eye and captured her attention. The writer admittedly gave an automatic answer that yes, someday, her daughter would be able to meet Jungkook. After that quick exchange, she spoke to her husband about the matter, expressing her worry that their daughter might lose focus on the more important things like getting a degree and figuring out what path to take, career-wise. Her husband was more optimistic, describing it as a phase their daughter will soon get over.
Frustratingly enough, their daughter’s obsession for BTS seemed to intensify over the next year. They noticed a change in her mood and behavior – how she’d come home from school looking sullen and stay cooped up in her room with headphones on. After numerous attempts to get to the bottom of their daughter’s behavior, she finally broke down and spilled the truth: she was being bullied in school about her thin frame. Moreover, she decided against confiding in her parents about the situation for fear that she’d be called a wimp.
It was only during this revelation when the writer learned how big a role BTS played in consoling her daughter and making her feel like it would all be okay. “While recounting her ordeal to the therapist, she let slip that the only thing that kept her functional during all the bullying was BTS, a South Korean boy band. In my head, I’d compartmentalised that band as little more than nonsense. But to my daughter, that very band was a lifeline. That day, I could see my daughter’s body language change and her eyes shine as she kept talking about the band and how their songs preach self-love and inclusivity,” she wrote.
Of the many lessons the writer learned, the greatest was the value of communication and open-mindedness, of not being too critical of children’s choices, no matter how peculiar.
Please SHARE this with your friends and family.
ARVE Error: need id and provider
