I was watching kids playing at the park while there with my daughter. I noticed what happened when kids encountered problems. They solved them.
For one example: There is a ring that the kids can hang from and ride as it slides from one end of a track to another. Only it binds up in the middle and if a kid doesn't have enough momentum, it will stop before they get to the other end. And most kids are not tall enough to reach the ring when it is not by one of the end platforms. So, when it gets stuck they'll work together. Or they'll try jumping at the ring to knock it to one end where they can reach it. They'll try to find a taller kid or adult. They'll find a tool (tree branch) to extend their reach. But, always, they find a solution.
Kids solve their own problems if not interfered with. Give them the liberty to find their own solutions. It will make them smarter and stronger than if you coddle them.
Now, kids are not perfect- just like adults aren't. Some think it's OK to initiate force or to steal. Some can be very cruel. Let's not give them bad examples by our behavior, and certainly let's not place the worst of the worst- cops and politicians- on some kind of pedestal and pretend these are people for kids to look up to or emulate.
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I strongly suspect it's kids who invented freedom.
ReplyDeleteScientists have ascertained, however, that insanity is inherited. Parents get it from their children.
Sam
The above comment I made in jest, but as to your last paragraph -- you made a good and serious point. Here is an article from a recent Lew Rockwell page that solidifies what you've written. Let's refrain from making "good citizens" out of what will become "good people" if we just allow them to have their slack.
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