My Right

Every human being should be aware of their rights. A person who does not know their rights often lives at the mercy of others. Rights protect a person from unnecessary submission, stop them from enduring injustice, and give them the courage to recognize their own voice. But if the awareness of rights comes without responsibility, it does not improve a person; it damages them. Then a person no longer uses rights for justice, but for stubbornness.

A child has the right to a safe childhood. A child should receive food, clothing, medical care, education, love, and respect. A child should be protected from violence, fear, humiliation, and injustice. It is absolutely true that a child does not come into this world by choice. The parents bring the child into the world, and therefore the upbringing of that child is also their responsibility. But the matter does not end there. A human being does not grow up only by receiving rights; a human being becomes human by learning responsibility.

In childhood, a person is someone who receives. They receive food, clothes, time, attention, medical care, and protection. But if, with age, the feeling of giving does not develop within them, then they may grow physically, but in character they remain a child. Such a person considers everything their right, but does not consider anything their responsibility. They make demands at home, they make demands outside, they make demands in relationships, but they run away from carrying their own share of the burden.

Rights and bad manners are not the same thing. To express one’s opinion is a right, but to constantly put another person down is not a right. To disagree with parents is a right, but to humiliate them is not a right. To make decisions about one’s own life is a right, but to place the responsibility for those decisions on others is not a right. Many people use the name of rights only to demand their own will. They want freedom, but they do not want accountability. They want respect, but they do not want to give respect to anyone. They keep an account of their own pain, but reduce the sacrifices of others to nothing.

One major problem is that in some homes, children are either completely suppressed or completely left without limits. Both paths are wrong. A child who is constantly suppressed may develop fear, lies, or rebellion. And a child who is never taught responsibility may develop selfishness. Upbringing does not mean blind obedience, nor does it mean blind freedom. Upbringing means teaching a person this: your life is yours, but you are not alone. Your decisions also affect others.

When a child grows up and says, “This is my right,” they should also understand, “This is my responsibility too.” If they want the freedom of their own room, they must also understand the cleanliness of their own room. If they want their own opinion, they must also have the capacity to listen to another person’s opinion. If they want respect from their parents, they must also know how to speak to their parents. If they want a share in the home, they must also take part in the pain and difficulties of that home.

The problem is not that the new generation recognizes its rights. The problem begins where the meaning of rights remains only “me.” My comfort, my will, my money, my time, my freedom, my decision. When every sentence begins with “I” and ends with “I,” then the “we” inside the home dies. And when “we” disappears from a home, people may live under the same roof, yet they become distant from one another.

Responsibility does not make a person smaller; it makes them greater. A person who carries their share of responsibility becomes less of a burden on others. A person who accepts the consequences of their own decisions becomes stronger. A person who can admit their mistake becomes human. But a person who blames every mistake on parents, society, circumstances, poverty, time, or others never looks at their own character. Then they spend their whole life complaining, but never bring change within themselves.

Children should understand that parents are human beings too. They are not machines, they are not angels, they do not possess perfect wisdom, and they do not make the right decision at every moment. They also become tired, they misunderstand things, they become afraid, they become worried, and they become weak. Just as children want their mistakes to be understood, they too should sometimes understand the weaknesses of their parents. Every disagreement is not enmity. Every restriction is not oppression. Every piece of advice is not a prison. Sometimes the style of parents is strict, but behind it there is fear, not hatred.

But it is also true that the mistakes of parents cannot be made sacred. If parents commit oppression, humiliate, or act unjustly, then the child has the right to protect themselves. But there is a difference between protecting oneself and being ungrateful. Distancing oneself from oppression is one thing; running away from every responsibility is another. Protecting one’s dignity is one thing; seeing a relationship only through the lens of benefit is another.

The real damage begins when a person turns their right into a weapon. They say in every matter: “This is my right.” But they never say: “This is my duty.” They demand accountability from their parents, but do not account for their own tone. They take comfort from the home, but do not give peace to the home. They know their right to inheritance, but they do not know the duty of care during illness. They want a share in property, but they do not want a share in responsibility. Such a right is not justice; it becomes greed.

In any society, if rights and responsibility are separated from each other, a person begins to fall apart from within. Rights give strength; responsibility gives direction. Strength without direction causes harm. An opinion without manners becomes noise. Freedom without accountability becomes selfishness. Knowledge without character becomes cleverness.

A good person is not the one who never disagrees. A good person is the one who does not abandon humanity even in disagreement. They express their view, but they do not crush the other person. They ask for their right, but they do not run away from their responsibility. They build their own life, but they do not curse their roots. They are free, but they are not insensitive.

Children must certainly be aware of their rights, but along with that awareness, this truth should also remain in the heart: a human being was not born only to receive. A person who always keeps taking and never recognizes the time to give does not maintain a relationship; they only use it. The real balance of life is that in childhood a person receives support, in youth they stand on their own feet, and in maturity they become support for others.

If children are taught rights but not responsibility, they become strangers in their own home. If they are given freedom but not sensitivity, they do not become free; they become empty. And if they are taught to speak but not taught to listen, then one day even their voice becomes a wound for others.

Rights are necessary, but along with rights, modesty, sensitivity, manners, and responsibility are also necessary. Otherwise, in the name of their rights, a person loses everything that makes them human.

Shahid Shakil

2026-07-04