I just had an intelligent discussion of gun control with a child. He is all for it - use both hands! Okay, seriously, it was actually about how stupid people think teenagers are. It started with his mentioning WW2 and how young the soldiers were.
Many memes play on the disconnect between how those men were seen and how men of the same age are seen today. "Boys" stormed the beaches of Normandy. Today, apparently, those same "boys" would be eating Tide Pods. What happened?
My considered opinion, and that's really all this is, is this: If anyone over the age of five (barring medical issues) is unable to think critically, their adults have failed them. My minions are and were all over the charts on physical, social, and mental development. Some of them were brighter at 10 than others at 30. Some of them choose not to think critically, but that isn't the same thing as not being able.
Obviously, humans with still-developing brains are unable to understand things on a certain level. I never expected them to. "Don't stick your hand in the campfire" doesn't require a prolonged explanation of third degree burns. "Those two men are married" doesn't need to include the Kama Sutra. But I always have and always will respect the thinking abilities they have.
The young man I was talking to today is 13. In many societies past, present, and probably future, he is considered a man. He is expected to make adult choices. But in modern America, he's still a child and therefore his brain is cottage cheese. Yet he could discuss issues in elementary school. Because his adults taught him to think.
There have always been Tide-Pod-Eaters. Even now, they are not the majority. As the song says, children are the future. Teach them now and let them lead the way.
No comments:
Post a Comment