A parent’s gentle plea for pragmatism can undercut a child’s moral crusade

Evidence

Her mother looked at her kindly. “It is taking up a lot of your time,” she said with soft eyes. “You could use that instead for your studying. Why waste your energy?” — Moustafa Bayoumi, How Does It Feel to Be a Problem? Being…, 406

Categorization

• XREF: Connects to the theme in Bayoumi’s frame of immigrant families who counsel accommodation and sacrifice rather than defiance; also resonates with the pressures faced by adolescent changemakers generally.