FREEDOM AND CONTROL
Patrice's father was adamant that she should study law when she completed her Advanced level examinations. He had everything planned out for her career, including a practice with his firm in the city. But Patrice was an artist. There were many times she tried to explain to her father that unlike being a lawyer, for her, being an artist was not a career choice. It was simply what she was. She could pursue any one of many career options, but it was art which pursued her. It was her inner drive, her motivation. It was where she found herself. And she was pretty good at it, but for all her trying she could not convince her dad that it could ever be a serious profession. In the end, it was her father who paid for her schooling, and she felt compelled to go along with his plan for her life.
Do you think that Patrice's father was genuinely concerned about her future?
Do you think his actions were done out of love?
Was the father right in ensuring that Patrice studied law and settled in a good job?
Is it wrong to force one's will on another?
Should Patrice be allowed to pursue an art career if it is not a reliable livelihood?
Is it wrong to deny a person their heart's desire concerning their own future?
What sorts of decisions do you think a teenager should make for himself/herself and what decisions should be made for the teenager?
How did Patrice's father exercise control over his daughter?
Was Patrice wrong to allow her father to choose her career?
How far should parents' control over a child reach when the child is: under twelve years old, between twelve and sixteen, between sixteen and twenty, married?
Should any adult have control over another? If yes, under what circumstances?
If Patrice did not need the father's money to further her education, do you think the father would have less control over her decision?
How does a person's desire for something make him or her vulnerable to control from others?
Do advertisements on television or any other media try to create some particular desire in their audience in order to control their spending? Do they try to control any other actions from their audience?
Do they sometimes suggest (subtly or openly) that their product can fulfil some natural desire, which is totally unrelated to what they are selling?
Consider tobacco or alcohol advertisements you have seen on television. What human desires do you think the advertisers are targeting?
A woman who is afraid to live on her own may give herself into the control of an abusive and controlling husband. In what other ways can someone's fear make him/her vulnerable to control from others?
Has anyone ever tried to control you by exploiting one of your fears or desires or both?
Who or what controls the kind of clothes you buy and wear? What controls your tastes in general?
Does fear of being seen as different from your peers affect your actions? How does your desire to "fit in" control your actions?
Can people be free from the control of others? How?
How can ignorance help to enslave a person?
How can education free a person?
Karen was the human resource manager in a company. She interviewed two people for the same job. One was a little more qualified for it but was quite financially well off. The other was really in need of the salary. Although Karen was mandated to find the most qualified person for the position, she however gave the job to the one who needed it more. She thought that an employee who really needs the job would be easier to control."
Was Karen fair in her decision?
Was Karen fair to her company?
Do you think that the person who wants the job more would be more dedicated and do a better job?
Dirk had just started to study for an important exam when some friends came calling. They were going out to a party and came to invite Dirk to go with them. Dirk knew that he should really stay home and study but the thought of missing out on the fun simply overpowered his reason. Leaving his studies, he took up the invitation and went to the party. The next morning, he was angry with himself. He knew that he made the wrong choice but was simply too weak to say no to his friends.
Who or what controlled Dirk's choice? Was Dirk really free to do what he wanted?
Can there be true freedom without self-control?
Is freedom the ability to do whatever one feels to do, or is it the courage and control for one to do what one ought to do?
How do things like uncontrolled passions, addictions, lack of courage interfere with freedom?
How often do they control you?
Do you have the ability and courage to free yourself?
Both Pablo and Maria noticed a definite change in their fourteen-year-old daughter since she entered a new class. It was not the fact that she had become so very outspoken that bothered them, for she was much too timid before. What they found worrisome were the strange new ideas she sometimes expressed, —ideas which challenged many of the good values they always tried to instil in their daughter. But what could they do? Demanding that she reject her views on things and adopt theirs did not seem to work. She was not as pliable as a year or so ago. Pablo thought that he had to take action here or risk his daughter's spiritual and moral decay. Having identified the main source of his daughter's perversion, he sought to cut it there at the root.
It was his daughter's new friend Rosa who was the bad influence. Rosa was a bright and charismatic young girl with natural gifts of leadership qualities. She would have been a formidable opponent in any school debate. A straight "A" student, charming and quick-witted, all her classmates were drawn to her. For these reasons the Dean was in disbelief when Pablo complained about Rosa and the negative influence she was having on his child.
Reluctantly, the Dean eventually transferred Pablo's daughter to another class but refused To take any action against Rosa. "We are against sanctioning free speech," the Dean insisted, "as long as it does not incite hate, violence, or immoral behaviour, and there is nothing I have heard which convinces me that Rosa incited any of these things. If it was the other way around and your daughter convinced Rosa to change her views on any subject, would that be right? I think that if we are to save this young generation from going astray, we adults must find a better way of influencing them. Most of the time force and sanctions do not work.”
Who is your greatest influence and why?
Do you feel free to express yourself?
Do you have a right to: think what you will, feel what you will, express your ideas?
Are you easily misled?
If there is someone, a little sister, or maybe a friend who really looks up to you and is greatly influenced by you, do you have a great responsibility to guide that person correctly by your words and actions?
Can there ever be freedom without responsibility?
Should you be free to mislead another person? If no, then who should control your freedom of speech?
How easy is it to cast aside the good values learnt from teachers and parents?
How can parents and teachers instill good values in children?
How can parents and teachers ensure that children treasure good values throughout their lives?
Activity: Interview a few of the teachers in your school to determine how they control their classes. Record their opinions of the differences between controlling people and guiding them. Interview some of your friends and record if and how they try to control their parents or friends.