3 Minute Speech

In the modern and resourceful world, children expect a lot from their parents. If you give a child a book as a present he will probably roll his eyes, or even turn his back and walk away. Children want at least an Xbox, or even better still, an iPhone or a Macbook and nothing less.
Some of them even blame their parents for not being rich enough to satisfy their needs.
Their lives are engulfed in materialism. In other words, they are plain spoiled and rotten.
But not all children are like this. Taking myself for instance, I am only asking for something that doesn’t even cost a dollar; Freedom is the word - Freedom to speak, freedom to act and freedom to think.
I remember on my eleventh birthday, my mum asked me where I would like to celebrate it. Instantly, sushi came to my mind. “Raw food is bad for you!” My second choice was Korean barbecue.
“That is too fattening!”
“How about pizza mom?”
“So expensive for just a piece of bread!”
The final conclusion was that we went to the same old Chinese restaurant, which is my mum’s favorite. So was I really asking for too much to eat something that I wanted on my birthday?
The lives of modern society children are not easy at all. Academically, parents want straight A in all subjects. They want all rounded shining stars so that they can show off in front of their friends. We are stuffed with competitions.
But can’t parents understand that not everyone wants to follow the mainstream? Some of us just want an easy and layback life. We don’t want to live under constant stress and worries. We want to wake fresh and have a decent social life.
Have you ever been told what you should aim for in your life? Most parents want a doctor or a lawyer or even a Nobel Prize Winner in the family. They want us to pursue their unfulfilled dreams. But we, children, want to follow our hearts to pursue our own dreams, not theirs. After all, we are individuals, and not puppets.
We children just want to grow up quickly, mature quickly, and to act