The last several decades have seen a decline in parental influence on their children. In fact, it seems that the more children watch movies and television and get influenced by people outside the home, the more their parents lose control over them. Nowadays, children and teens are often searching for role models other than their parents to imitate. They naturally look to celebrities like singers, movie stars, and athletes to be their guides. For example, many high school students like to dress in the latest fashions that have been made popular by various celebrities. They even cut their hair like famous people or say the same things as them. Parents simply cannot complete with these stars when it comes to influencing their children. Many television shows, movies, and video games have high levels of violent content and bad language, which greatly influence young people watching them. Children have begun acting badly based upon what they have seen on various media.
近几十年来，父母对子女的影响出现了下降。事实上，越来越多的孩子看电影和电视，并受到外界的影响，他们的父母对他们失去控制。如今，孩子和青少年往往是在寻找榜样，而不是他们的父母模仿。他们很自然地去看像歌手，电影明星，运动员是他们的指南。例如，许多高中学生喜欢穿最新的时装，这是由各种名人所欢迎的。他们甚至把自己的头发剪了，像名人一样，或者说同样的事情。父母只是不能完成这些星星，当它影响他们的孩子。许多电视节目、电影和电视游戏都有很高水平的暴力内容和不好的语言，这些都严重影响了年轻人的观看。孩子们已经开始根据他们在各种媒体上看到的东西开始表演了。
My younger cousin got in trouble at school for kicking some other students. When asked why he did it, he responded that he had been imitating his favorite cartoon character. He had seen this behavior and decided to act similarly. His parents had enormous difficulties getting him to stop. This showed me that TV shows can be more influential than parents. Finally, young people often feel like they have nothing in common with their parents, so their parents' influence in their live decreases. Young people think their parents do. For example, many parents are not as proficient as their children are at using modern technology. They might not even know how to surf the Internet or use an MP3 player. This gap in knowledge makes it very hard for them to find common ground with their parents. In conclusion, modern media and the world of technology have much stronger influences on young people than their parents do. As young people get more absorbed in television, movies celebrities, and their friends, parents should expect to continue losing more control over their children.Many believe that outside influences have stronger effects on young people than their parents do. This, however, is a mistaken belief.
我弟弟在学校里遇到了一些其他学生的麻烦。当被问到他为什么这样做时，他回答说，他一直在模仿他最喜欢的卡通人物。他已经看到了这种行为，并决定采取同样的行动。他的父母给他带来了巨大的困难让他停下来。这说明我认为电视节目比父母更有影响力。最后，年轻人通常觉得自己和父母没有共同的生活，所以他们父母的生活会影响他们的生活。年轻人认为他们的父母。例如，许多父母不像他们的孩子一样熟练使用现代技术。他们可能甚至不知道如何上网或使用MP3播放器。这方面的知识差距使他们很难找到共同的立场与他们的父母。总之，现代媒体和世界的技术对年轻人的影响比他们的父母更强烈的影响。随着年轻人对电视、电影明星以及他们的朋友的影响，父母应该继续失去对孩子的控制，许多人认为，外界的影响对年轻人的影响比他们的父母更为强烈。然而，这是一个错误的信念。
I am convinced that parents still exercise a greater influence over their children than anyone or anything else and have not lost control over them. Children's earliest and most important influences come from their parents. So parents are integral to the development of the child's understanding of the world. When I was still very young, my parents began teaching me many different things. Among these were ethics and a sense of right and wrong. They taught me what was right to do and what I should not do. I have kept those lessons with me even to this day, and I try to live my life by those standards. We must also remember that parents are the ones who control what their children see and do. They can make sure their children are watching acceptable shows and doing proper activities so long as they supervise their children.