What is our goal as a parent

As a dad, I often feel like I’ve been given the mostimportant task in the world without any training. There is no shortcut, nomentor, no seminar course than can help prepare us for the responsibility ofraising a child. With late nights, tears, tantrums, financial burdens, playdates and an inordinate amount of time spent picking pieces of playdough out ofthe carpet, there is no time to even stop and stare. How often do we actuallystop to consider what we are trying to do?

As we set up King’s Bangkok, there is so much day-to-dayadministration and work that needs to be done that we need to pitch ourselves,step back and look at the bigger picture. A sailor on a ship engrossed in the day-to-daytasks will quickly float off course. In the same way, we need to take time forourselves to decide where we are going before we navigate the way.

Whether you are a founding head or a father, thequestions remains: What do we want for our children? For example, shouldchildren use iPads? The question makes no sense without the roadmap and overallpicture. For me, the goal is to provide opportunities for children to be happy,well-rounded, humble and respectful. To me, the path is centered around goodmanners and kindness. Through this prism, everything makes sense.

Should children use iPads? Well, if it enhances theirlearning without stopping them from becoming well-rounded people; if it doesnot stop them talking and developing people-skills; if it is preparing them forthe world and to be successful, then the answer must be ‘yes’, as long as theyare used sparingly and appropriately. Too often, people replace importantquestions with easier ones such as ‘do I like iPads?’ without taking the timeto think and without considering where we are going. we will never achieve ourgoals for our children.