Childhood should be about simple things. Simple things, like learning about themselves, understanding family, exploring the world around them, and ultimately finding their own path through life. But are these really simple things?
Each child is unique, but the
process of development is not. The
variables that go into a child growing to be an adult are as diverse and varied
as the world around that child. How the
parents interact, how the extended family is formed, how the freedom to explore
is encouraged, and what future is laid out before them.
Science fiction writers often
depict a Utopian world where we are all individually self-motivated, and
inspired to achieve all we can, or we are shown a dark and foreboding world
where life is a depressing struggle for survival at the very margins of existence. The question before each generation is what
future do we build for those who will follow?
The reality is not far different
than what fiction presents. If we cage
the child’s imagination, or force it in a direction we prefer then we move that
child to a dark land. If we condemn them
with our pessimism and our bigotry, we reduce their willingness to explore what
can be. At the same time, if we think we
are doing them favors by laying out fantasies about the world; we shelter them
to a point that when that shelter is removed they are blinded by the white
light of reality.
There really is one simple
thing. Children succeed or fail based on
the parent. Regardless of however much
the government directs or spends, if the parent does not inspire them to
greatness they will fail.
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