I do think kids need less social exposure, if only for their own sanity. There is only so much water bottle flipping, fidget spinning, and faggot calling that some children (and adults) can put up with in one day.
Because that is the social environment within large middle schools and high schools, it detracts significantly from their education. Since it is not something that they will experience often as adults it seems like a waste to force them through that during their education, just sayin'
That is precisely what I am talking about: peer pressure/influence. You are just confirming my point. We already have enough influence on children from different angles: Religion, Race, Sex etc. I am saying that children should not be forced into these things and instead just allow them to explore the World in their own way. Let them learn about everything they feel interested in. This is not an age to be force-fitted into a mould. This is an age where they are growing/learning. Once they are ready they should be given their voting rights.
Giving them voting rights at such a young age will just make them all into activists or worse politicians. I see so many child activists who are just being exploited by their parents for making a quick buck. Most of what these children utter on TV is just stuff that have been told by their parents. If you talk to them outside of all this media circus you'll know that they are innocent and don't have much idea about the World except for doing what they are told.
They are just not prepared for it. The moment you go off script the cookie crumbles. But keep aside politics/activism for a moment. Do you think it is fair that a child has to go through this sort of exploitation for what should be adults coming out with solutions? Because let us face it. This is exploitation. The child needs to be in school studying and enjoying with friends. She will never get back this youthful life again. We as adults are literally using children as props to settle our political issues. This is immoral and not right.
People forget in the 8-12 year old range kids have their own ideas about things. Kids understand a lot and perceive when adults don't care about what is good for them at some level.
It's important to distill a sense of agency in children. That they can control at least some aspects of their future. In my opinion one of societies current ailes is that we underestimate the amount of agency individuals have in society.
I'm increasingly of the opinion that grouping school children with others kids their age is hugely damaging.
The major figures in most kid's lives are parents and teachers, who are in an authority position; siblings, who have a complex relationship that often turns competitive; and their school friends.
Kids are missing a chance to socialise with children who are older than them, learn from adults who are not in an authority role, and to care for and mentor younger children.
Instead they spend all their time with other kids who are have they exact same emotionally immaturity as they do. You get feedback loops of bad behaviour, and put them in bubbles where their peers and their psychopathic games (like bullying) make up 100% of their reality.
The only consistent counterpoint I can think of are cousins, who are typically slightly older or younger, and are outside of kids' normal peer groups. As a result these are often very positive relationships.
So, so many excellent quotes in that discussion. My favorite:
"Kids are never the problem. They are born scientists. The problem is always the adults. The beat the curiosity out of the kids. They out-number kids. They vote. They wield resources. That's why my public focus is primarily adults."
There's a few things on the list I disagree with (games, sleepovers, school play) but otherwise? Spot on. Kids lack sufficient perspective to understand which activities are important and why.
What if the kid cares because the culture makes a big deal out of it? IMHO, kids should just be kids, not have all this organized, scheduled shit anyway.
To be perfectly honest, I don't think that's a "kids these days" sort of thing. The concept of service has rarely been high on people's priorities outside of a major crisis or being part of a social group that values it highly and enforces it through peer pressure.
I think kids need to be kids but there should be accelerated classes at least a portion of the day to satisfy them intellectually (math, science, literature). They are (most likely) still mentally the same age and enjoy most of the same playtime activities as other kids. It's not likely that an 8year old is gonna have a good time hanging with a clique of 12 year olds and vice versa.
They absolutely have that level of thinking. They can't always verbalize it eloquently, so the author may have re-phrased it as the article was written. But my kids have real depth of feeling about the world, their place within it, and have more passion about engaging with it in their own way than most adults I know... not because adults don't have the same concerns, but because we resolved them decades ago, while the teens and tweens are just starting to engage in that process.
I think no matter how well you raise a 10 or 11 year old, at that age they are still impressionable and subject to a lot of group-think and peer pressure.
I agree - kids need intelligent role models. The modes of entertainment kids engage in (tv, movies, videogames) do not glorify intelligence - books are much better for that.
Sure, rankings are meaningless to us. But they matter to children, who still being primates of little to no distinction from the animal kingdom, really like to keep score.
You know how kids are. They only hear what they want to hear. They sulk and throw tantrums. No reason for an adult to let it get under their skin. On the contrary, they look up to us, and need us to be solid.
Kids are never the problem. They are born scientists. The problem is always the adults. The beat the curiosity out of the kids. They out-number kids. They vote. They wield resources. That's why my public focus is primarily adults.
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