Most people in my country consider studying abroad as something negative. When I tell them that I am studying abroad, their first reactions would be “waste of money”, “sons of devils”, etc. It is true that mass media (such as TV, magazine, etc.) have changed the western culture’s perception in my surroundings as examples of moral degradation; but I find them narrow-minded. Not only their opinion is failed to be supported with a properly-researched premises, but they gave the opinion without even experiencing the so-called “Studying abroad”.
They say, “No parental guidance during early mental development is equivalent to assassination of morality.” My reply would be, “Parents are there to support us, but they are not the ones determining who we really are.” Yes, you may find students who are away from their parents and ended up wasting their time; forgetting the main purpose of them studying. Yes, these people might be better off with the presence of their parents -their lives would be more controlled. However, it doesn’t mean everyone needs to be under parents’ supervision in order to fully develop their own potentials and to be “successful”.
Guess what? I think my life remains balanced even without the presence of my parents here, beside me, right now. My parents are the ones laying my foundation, forging my principles to be as strong and as tough as possible. Their foundations have allowed me to go against the perceived “satanic” lifestyle that I encounter abroad. But even without them, I think I can manage myself pretty well. In fact, I have never been in this level of satisfaction with myself, more than ever before, more than the period of me spending my life with my parents in Indonesia.
Furthermore, studying abroad is a real-life application (and experimentation) of “survival of the fittest”, which is necessary in strengthening and speeding up our mental development. Living with nobody, knowing nobody (in the beginning), and facing problem without anybody helping me, is believed to have made me a better, stronger, and less vulnerable person to the dynamics of the society nowadays.
All in all, those negative perception on studying abroad simply don’t hold up. It has been proven too, by me and many others who have tasted the fruits of our suffering of living by ourselves. Thus, tell your parents that studying abroad aren’t as bad as they perceived, and start planning! 
