When Parents Become Friends, Friends Become Parents & Teachers Become Ring Masters

  •   Sat, Dec 06 2025
  •   By Dr Rouchelle Tellis

December 6, 2025

Let’s admit it — our childhood used to be simple

You did something stupid → your parents scolded you → your friends laughed at you → your teacher punished you → and somehow, you grew up normal.

Fast forward to today:

You do something stupid → your parents say, “Sweetie, that’s just your creativity” → your friends say, “Bro,repeat it! Viral material! For Instagram” → and your teacher silently calculates how many days until retirement.

Somewhere between the Nokia 1100 and Instagram filters, the entire parenting–friendship–teaching ecosystem flipped. Now

  • Parents want to be friends
  • Friends want to be parents
  • And teachers? They’ve shifted from “second parents” to “circus ringmasters” juggling syllabus, behaviour and parental expectations.

Welcome to modern childhood:

When parents become friends: There’s nothing wrong with bonding with your kids… but today’s parents have taken “friendly parenting” way too far that some are literally sending friend requests to their own children.

Earlier:

Parent: “Don’t talk back.”
Child: silent, terrified, respectful or whatever you call it

Now:
Parent: “Sweetie, how do you feel about my rules? You’re in a safe space.”
Child: “I feel your rule is unnecessary. I need room for my self-expression.”
Parent: “Oh… okay baby. Mommy is SO SORRY” 

And just like that, bedtime becomes optional, homework becomes negotiable, and eating vegetables becomes unacceptable. Parents now fear upsetting their child more than the child fears consequences. They worry the kid will “stop sharing feelings,” while the child is busy sharing EVERYTHING online, with the parent watching from the comments like a loyal follower. Many homes don’t even have rules anymore — just “SUGGESTIONS,” like traffic signs in Bengaluru. Nice to look at, but purely decorative. 

When friends become parents

Parents may hesitate to discipline children…..… but friends? Never.

Friends now dole out life advice with the confidence of motivational speakers and the wisdom of a slightly stale potato.

Common friend-philosopher lines:

  • “Hey Broo, Don’t let your parents control you.”
  • “Hey Dude, Teachers don’t know anything yaaaar.”
  • “Failure builds character — so dude it doesn’t matter if you failed”

This, is said to a child who scored 21 in math — not out of 25, but out of 100.

Earlier, if you messed up, friends called you a donkey and moved on. But now:

  • Friend: “Bro You’re a genius. The world just doesn’t understand your greatness.”

Teachers: the ring masters

Now the tragic heroes of this story: are the teachers.
They signed up to teach algebra and ended up doing counseling, crowd control, emotional management, and performing magic tricks to keep the classroom alive.

Teachers used to be respected. Now students treat them like Siri.

  • Student: “Ma’am, will this chapter come in the exam?”
  • Teacher: “Yes, it’s in the syllabus.”
  • Student: “Alright… just cancel it. I’m not ready for it emotionally”

Parents defend children like high-profile celebrity lawyers.

o    Teacher: “Your son hasn’t done homework for five days.”

o    Parent: “But …. is there any peer-reviewed evidence that homework actually benefits my child’s mental health?”

Before the teacher recovers from that trauma, someone files a complaint that the teacher’s TONE hurt the child’s self-esteem.

Teachers are expected to:

  • Make every class fun and exciting
  • Never give low marks (self-esteem alert)
  • Never discipline anyone (trauma alert)
  • Be responsible for everything except discipline and marks

And then arrives technology — the fourth parent

The ultimate guardian of modern children is the smartphone. It entertains, babysits, educates, distracts, and occasionally raises the child entirely.

Parents say no.
Friends say yes.
Teachers say please.
The phone says: “Next video loading… enjoy your childhood!”

Guess who wins?

Why did all this happen?

  • In old world, parents gave instructions, now parents ask for opinions
  • Earlier friends supported, now friends advise
  • Previously teachers disciplined, now teachers entertain
  • Earlier children obeyed, now children negotiate

Children now possess: Unlimited confidence, limited discipline, infinite expectations and zero patience. And the world calls them “Generation Sensitive.” 

What Needs to Change (Gently but Honestly)

  • Parents: Remember, you already have friends. Your child needs a parent.
  • Friends: If you can’t solve algebra, please don’t solve someone’s life.
  • Teachers: You are not stand-up comedians — teaching shouldn’t require fire juggling.
  • Children: Life has exams you cannot skip, deadlines you cannot bargain with, and bosses who do not care about your self-expression.

Childhood may have changed, but the lessons remain, just that they are delivered with a little more chaos, hashtags, and unsolicited life advice. Parents trying to be friends, friends trying to be parents, and teachers juggling fire (literally or metaphorically) have created a world where children are confident, expressive, and ….. slightly unmanageable. Messy, hilarious, chaotic — modern childhood may be all that, but maybe, just maybe, that’s what makes growing up unforgettable.

 

 

 

 
By Dr Rouchelle Tellis
Dr Rouchelle Tellis is the professor of microbiology and head of Hospital Infection Control at Yenepoya Medical College Hospital.
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Comment on this article

  • Daniel, Mangalore

    Sat, Dec 06 2025

    Well Written! This is exactly what globalist liberal ( modern name for communists ) elite wanted. They don't give their children smartphone till the age of 14 but they want normal rich, middle class, common people’s children to get enslaved and brainwashed by their liberal ideology through Ai and mobile technology at a very young age and that children should control parents! Or They have turned world upside down! for their New World Order. Previous world lockdown, for so called pandemic, was to push online study, technology and mainly for immorality liberal push, for digital control and policing same time elite raking billions in technology, online and medical business, it is not surprising. So even God is sick and tired of this evil and if God cleansup all evil sooner (following quoted and referenced) or later it is not surprising!, to bring forward 1000 years of peace, as written in Book of Revelation ch 20, 21 and 22. "URGENT: THE VIRGIN MARY REVEALS THE EXACT DATE | 3 DAYS OF DARKNESS IN DECEMBER 2025 (37 min)" Ref: https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=k4m6rJWpM8U


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