I’d say the vast majority of things we vote on in politics can be discussed with children. Kids who are talked to like adults mature far more gracefully than those who are artificially shielded from anything mildly uncomfortable.
Politicians should have to explain directly to kids why their family is deep in medical debt. Or why they can’t have certain books in their library. Or why we should bomb children in other countries.
Politicians should have to explain directly to kids why their family is deep in medical debt. Or why they can’t have certain books in their library. Or why we should bomb children in other countries.
Are you absolutely insane? These are examples of things I don’t want being discussed in my kids’ classrooms (High school classrooms as a matter of general discussion notwithstanding). A 10 year old kid does not need to be spending his days discussing the world of geopolitics. There is a such thing as “age appropriate”, you know.
When I was in kindergarten (back in the 70s), my teacher was Jewish. Do you know how she explained the difference between Christmas and Hannukah to us? “You know how Santa comes by and gives you some gifts on Christmas morning? Well instead of getting all the gifts at once they get 1 a day for a 8 days instead. You get to put up a tree, they use a menorah (while showing us one)”
We were 5 years old. Was that accurate? Not entirely. Was it enough for a 5 year old? Absolutely. “Jews celebrate things a little differently than you do, and that’s OK”. That’s it. That was the message. And it’s all we needed to know. We didn’t need to get into some discussion over Israel or get into some religious viewpoints or anything. 5 year olds don’t need to worry about that shit. Same thing applies here. We don’t need to make them worry about topics that their parents probably barely understand. Your idea would destroy the mental health of children who are in no way prepared to handle and process those kind of topics.
I think you underestimate the capability of children to understand sensitive topics and maintain their mental health. There’s not a lot of research on it either way yet, but the little I’ve seen is all in favor of having the difficult discussions with your kids, as early as possible.
Feel free to send me some peer reviewed research that says otherwise though, I’m always willing to listen if there are facts being brought to the table.
I’d say the vast majority of things we vote on in politics can be discussed with children. Kids who are talked to like adults mature far more gracefully than those who are artificially shielded from anything mildly uncomfortable.
Politicians should have to explain directly to kids why their family is deep in medical debt. Or why they can’t have certain books in their library. Or why we should bomb children in other countries.
Are you absolutely insane? These are examples of things I don’t want being discussed in my kids’ classrooms (High school classrooms as a matter of general discussion notwithstanding). A 10 year old kid does not need to be spending his days discussing the world of geopolitics. There is a such thing as “age appropriate”, you know.
When I was in kindergarten (back in the 70s), my teacher was Jewish. Do you know how she explained the difference between Christmas and Hannukah to us? “You know how Santa comes by and gives you some gifts on Christmas morning? Well instead of getting all the gifts at once they get 1 a day for a 8 days instead. You get to put up a tree, they use a menorah (while showing us one)”
We were 5 years old. Was that accurate? Not entirely. Was it enough for a 5 year old? Absolutely. “Jews celebrate things a little differently than you do, and that’s OK”. That’s it. That was the message. And it’s all we needed to know. We didn’t need to get into some discussion over Israel or get into some religious viewpoints or anything. 5 year olds don’t need to worry about that shit. Same thing applies here. We don’t need to make them worry about topics that their parents probably barely understand. Your idea would destroy the mental health of children who are in no way prepared to handle and process those kind of topics.
I think you underestimate the capability of children to understand sensitive topics and maintain their mental health. There’s not a lot of research on it either way yet, but the little I’ve seen is all in favor of having the difficult discussions with your kids, as early as possible.
Feel free to send me some peer reviewed research that says otherwise though, I’m always willing to listen if there are facts being brought to the table.
Go to bed gramps