[Student Reporters] Valuin Family Time

Karen Lee/11th, Glendora HS

Six thirty. The time Mr. Park usually comes home after a hectic day at work. Molly observed her pink princess clock ticking it's way to six fifteen. Running down the hall as quickly as she could Molly didn't want there to be even the slightest chance of missing her father's arrival. If she was lucky her dad would be home earlier than usual something that rarely happened yet still factored in as a possibility to young Molly. At the age of seven Molly's heart undoubtedly belonged to her father.

Molly anxiously sat in her familiar window seat in her living room and couldn't control her excitement as the routine sound of Mr. Park's silver Porsche rolled into the driveway. Not permitted to leave the house without a parent as a guide Molly could only open the thin screen door that was keeping her from her father and wait. Mr. Park had made it halfway up the driveway towards his home when he paused. Molly unprepared for the action became even more attentive to what would happen next.

In today's society parents are pushed to take on more hours or work days and in the end become obsessed with money. As a result children experience being replaced by cash or the materialistic items that can be purchased with it. Many times parents lose sight of their responsibilities and result to showing love with money. The desire to build a relationship with their children becomes a priority that can wait.

"My dad was always away when I was younger" Jamie Lee 17 stated. "And I know that will somehow uncontrollably affect my relationship with my future kids. Parent-children relationships need to be handled better."

The economy seems to give working parents an excuse to postpone catching up with their children in order to make a living.

First generation Koreans are familiar with that kind of unfair treatment to their kids. Moving to a new country like America and being separated from a familiar lifestyle they look for a form of escape. Work becomes their life and their pastime. They begin to believe that supporting their kids through finances is the best way to live. But the first generation parents have been wrongly informed.

"My parents are both from Seoul" Lily Park 17 said. "I know they care about me but sometimes its hard for them to show it because they aren't used to it. When they found out how much the time we were apart due to their work was hurting me they wanted to change."