Earlier this summer, I read an article that had a very good point about childhood development and how ‘we’ as an American society want our children to grow up so quickly. It focused on how we are rushing babies to become toddlers and infants before they are ready. Although the article was about why American mothers stop breastfeeding, the same thoughts have a direct link to what is going on in public education in America.
” …Jean Piaget commented that ‘The American Question’ was ‘How can we hasten child development?’ Why are we in such a rush to make…to grow up? It happens so quickly as it is. I think that letting kids grow as they are ready, instead of pushing them into a stage they aren’t ready for, is to their detriment.”
This idea – of hastening a child’s development and personal growth – is currently happening in public schools across the country. We, in general, want everything to be faster, smarter, and better than it was before. This is fine when it comes to getting a new phone or having a more advanced way to listen to a David Bowie album — but, with your child’s education, not so much. Each person needs to be given the opportunity to learn at their own pace. People, especially school-age children, aren’t robots (thankfully). So, expecting them to be programmed like one is a very unrealistic, and detrimental, thought. Again, this directly relates to the articles I wrote earlier about turning education into a business; it’s just not the same.
In the grand scheme of things, who cares how your high-schooler is doing in comparison to the kids in Norway or New Zealand? To me, what does matter is that they are learning and are interested in learning more. It takes time to foster a love of education — mainly because it is not something that each of us are passionate about from such a young age. I don’t know any 5 year old who considers ‘school’ their hobby. Do you? Instead, it really is ‘fostering’ a love of school and learning. We have to make it interesting and build a child’s curiosity about learning.
In the same focus of the original article, we – adults, parents – need to slow down; we need to – to be totally cliche – we need to stop and smell the roses. There is beauty in learning, in finding our passions; children should not be denied this chance to love learning. Because, they’ll never get it back.
