Why Children Should Not Send Aged Parents to Old Folks’ Home
There is a story told about a couple who brought along their child and their aged, sickly, bed-ridden father into the forest with the intention of dumping their father there. They carried him in a basket. Their child wanted to bring the basket back home after that. The couple asked him why he did so. The child replied that he wanted to use the basket to dump them in the forest when they were old. In the end, the couple quickly brought their father back home. The moral lesson is one should not dump their aged parents.
Sending parents to old-age homes
Nowadays, many children are dumping their aged parents by sending them to the old folks’ home due to different kinds of reasons as well as excuses. Although many people feel that sending their aged parents to the old folks’ home is better for them rather than staying at home, I strongly agree that the government should introduce laws against parent dumping because old people would like to be close to their family, they will not be well-taken care of in the old folks’ home and they can contribute their help in housework and also taking care of their grandchildren to ease the burden of their children.
Firstly, the government should introduce laws against parent dumping. This is due to the fact that many aged parents would like to stay close with their children. Many aged parents have been working hard and earning money throughout their life. They might not have a close relationship with their children because they have spent most of their time on earning money. So, a good kinship with their children is important to them especially after retirement. But, those children who do not have a good relationship with their parents may send them to the old folks’ home.
This is because they think that their parents did not care for them enough while they were young. So, they choose to do the same thing to their elderly parents. According to Landers (2009), risks of getting sentimental, attitude and growth problems for children are increasing due to the lack of time to communicate with their parents. However, children should not do this to them because they have sacrificed their whole life for working all the time just to give their children a good living environment and education.
One should think how difficult it is their parents have raised them up. According to joeykangkang (2011), one says ‘blood is thicker than water’. Thus, one should not forsake their parents if they want to stay with them. In other words, laws against parent dumping should be practiced. In addition, aged people may not be well taken care of in old folks’ home. The reason is there are too many patients in the old folks’ home. The nursing staff cannot take care of every patient thoroughly. Therefore, one’s aged parents may not be well-tended there.
According to Rubin (2008), there were about 70% of patients with dementia passed away in the old folks’ home. Statistic has revealed that old people who stay in old folks’ home own higher risk to suffer from dementia than old people who stay at home. This is because the aged people in old folks’ home seldom communicate with their children after they are sent there. From this study, one should not send their elderly parents to the old folks’ home. Indeed, it is an act of jeopardizing their parents. Apart from this, it is filial piety to take care of elderly parents.
According to Singh (2011), it is good to care for one’s aged parents but very sarcastically this scenario has changed since children are aiming for the property and money of the aged parents. In short, one should take care of their aged parents all the time but not only for the pecuniary reason. The government should take actions on introducing laws against parent dumping to protect the right of elderly people. According to Leung (2011), there is a law in China that states that the parents are allowed to sue their children in court for not paying enough visits to them.
The government should follow this legislation which is beneficial to parents against parent dumping. Furthermore, elderly people still can contribute their help in housework and also taking care of their grandchildren. The government should take this into consideration while introducing laws against parent dumping. One should throw away that kind of prejudice that old people are useless. In fact, elderly people have more experience in doing housework and taking care of children. Meanwhile, they are not as useless as one thinks. For instance, one may busy working all the day and do not have the time to take care of their own children.
At this time, elderly parents can lend a hand to take care of their children. According to Family Relationship Services Australia (FRSA) (2011), a survey conducted by Australian Bureau of Statistics in 2002 showed that out of every five children who aged between 0-11 years old, there is one child taken care by elderly parents. This has evinced the help that elderly people can contribute in. One is more rest assured when their children are taking care of by the people whom they knew instead of stranger such as a maid or nursery to take care of their children.
According to Awad Mustafa (2010), there was a news report about a murder case by a housemaid which occurred in Dubai. The housemaid killed her employer and her two-year-old girl. This shows the risks involved in hiring a maid to take care of children. Hence, elderly people should not be sent to the old folks’ home because they can contribute their help in certain matters. On the other hand, some people feel that sending their aged parents to the old folks’ home is a better choice for them rather than staying at home. They feel that the old folks’ home serves aged people better than themselves.
For example, one is busy working day and night and leaving elderly parents alone at home. Elderly people may feel lonely and bored. In contrast, they can make friends and have happy hours in the old folks’ home with other old folks. Old people are also not easy to take care of. They may have diseases such as diabetes, dementia and heart diseases. One should not leave them alone at home because they are just like an indefinite bomb that will explode any minute. In short, elderly people are not advisable to stay at home especially those with health problems.
It will only transform into another sad ending if any accident happens to them while the family members are not around. Another problem is their emotions. Elderly people get irritated when something does not follow their will. Despite this, I still firmly believe that the government should introduce laws against parent dumping. In conclusion, the government should introduce laws against parent dumping because of the three points that are mentioned. In order to curb the problem of parent dumping, one should realize that the improvement of communication between parents and adult children for better understanding of each other is significant.
Parents should also build up good kinship with their children to avoid this issue to be deteriorated. Some children may reflect their feelings by sending their parents to the old folks’ home when they have grown up in the future. The problem may be getting more and more serious from time to time if the children are not educated properly from their childhood. For example, children should be taught to honor and respect their elderly parents. Concisely, the main reason of this issue possibly is the relationship between parents and their children. When the origin is solved, then it will be much more easy for the following problems.
