Is there a difference between the roles of mother and father?

Mireille: Yes, there is a difference. A mother teaches her child right from wrong and manners. A father teaches a child to be strong and confident. This can also be vice versa. I am describing my parents.

Vicky: Yes. A mother should be the one to comfort and a father should be the one to teach a lesson – the old-fash­ioned way.

Caitlin: Well, there shouldn't be but I think there is. Most dads work, so the kids are at home with their mom when they're little.

Corey: No, because a mother can do everything a father can and vice versa.

Do you ask your parents for advice?

Megan: I ask my dad for advice about math and home­work but my mother for advice about school, friends and life. She's very understanding and I'm very close to her.

Caitlin: Yes. For me, decisions are hard to make, so I al­ways ask for their advice.

Anne: Not really. I talk to them, but I usually go to my older sister for advice.

Corey: Sometimes I do and other times it's too personal.

Kevin: Yes, most of the time they are the only people I can talk to.

Kristen: I talk to my dad about things like boys and school friend problems. He usually gives me good advice.

If you have children, what will you do differently from your own parents?

Kristen: I won't ground my kids. I'll take them to con­certs and they'll be allowed to have a separate phone line.

Kevin: I won't be as strict as my parents. I'll give my kids more freedom to do what they want.

Pani: I definitely won't make my kids do their homework before they do anything else.

Mireille: I won't be as protective as my parents. I'll trust my daughter to make the right decisions.

Imagine you can choose anyone famous to be your parents. Who will you choose?

Rob: Someone like Anfernee Hardaway. He's a basketball player. I'd like to live in a big house and go to see all the games.

Anne: Tom Cruise and Nicole Kidman, because they seem like cool people who really care about children.

Pani: My parents are much better than any famous person.

Kevin: I'd like Bill Clinton and Tyra Banks to be my par­ents. Bill is very powerful and it might be cool to have the president as a parent. Tyra is very rich.

Erin: I wouldn't like my parents to be famous.

Should parenting skills be taught in school?

Erik: Yes. Too many young parents don't know the basics of parenting. .

Erin: No. I think parenting is something you learn when you have children, with the help of your parents.

Vicky. Yes, because some kids in my school are "messed up" and they do stupid things.

Mireille: No. It’s not something you just learn. To be a good parent you have to be like a friend.

Vocabulary:

point of view – погляд, точка зору

to support – підтримувати

to praise – хвалити

strict – суворий

successful – успішний

difference – різниця

confident – впевнений

vice versa – лат. навпаки

to comfort – заспокоювати

advice – порада

decision – рішення

to ground – посадити під домашній арешт

separate – окремий

protective – захисний

cool – гарний, чудовий

freedom – свобода

powerful – могутній

messed up – той, що заплутався to care about – дбати про