The American Kindergarchy

[HeyHomie]

Here is a very LONG article in which the author makes an interesting claim:

In America we are currently living in a Kindergarchy, under rule by children.

Interesting premise, I think.

Discuss.

 

[snoochface]

Even without reading the article, I believe this is true.

It's prevalent in churches, which we've talked about here before. How many children's programs, kids' choirs, AWANAs, VBS, youth groups, etc. do our churches have, compared to the old stand-bys they include for adults (the Women's, Men's, and sometimes Singles groups)? We see it in how it's the first thing on people's minds, one of the first questions we get asked: "Hi, I'm Jane Doe, do you have kids??"

Tax rates, housing development, employment benefits and health care, television content, commercial/retail enterprises, all base their standards on the American family. It's all based on the assumption that families are two parents and 2.3 kids.

When I have more time, I'll read the article and give a more informed response.

 

[127.0.0.1]

Since kids aren't a part of my life and my sibling is about 5 1/2 or so years younger than me...I can't say I experienced much of what the article eludes to being the "modern family" (though I recall my parents being a bit more supportive and involved than the author's).

My mom, for most of my life...as far as I could tell.....had no life...but even then, she didn't stoop to bringing up the subject of baby pictures and what not. I wasn't her life...even when she had no life (stay at home mom and yes...she really did have...no life...in fact she still doesn't really have a life...save for her very small group of friends). I guess the question "what do you do all day?" kinda does apply to my mom, outside of taking care of the one grandparent I have left (which is not that often and even then dad does a lot of that off work), she really does do very...very little. Oh wait...she plays soduku or what ever it's called and she's trying to take up ping-pong.

 

[invisiblebabe]

I think the guy who wrote that article has serious issues. I would not want to be his friend, student, coworker, OR child.

So often in my literature classes students told me what they "felt" about a novel, or a particular character in a novel. I tried, ever so gently, to tell them that no one cared what they felt; the trick was to discover not one's feelings but what the author had put into the book, its moral weight and its resultant power.

Telling ANYONE, child or adult, that nobody cares what they feel is not only cruel but invalidating. There is already enough invalidation going on in people's lives - many kids and adults are constantly told that their thoughts, experiences, and feelings are unimportant. Yes, it is important to learn whatever the curriculum is, but doing so at the expense of invalidating a student is destructive.

That, and he has the nerve to say young people today are spoiled, when his parents paid for his entire education. I sure wasn't that fortunate.

The formative years ARE important. Devoting time and attention to ensure children grow and develop in a healthy way is crucial to society's happiness. IMO that is not the same thing as spoiling them (and spoiling them does need to be avoided).

 

[Adamantium]

I think the guy who wrote that article has serious issues. I would not want to be his friend, student, coworker, OR child.


Telling ANYONE, child or adult, that nobody cares what they feel is not only cruel but invalidating. There is already enough invalidation going on in people's lives - many kids and adults are constantly told that their thoughts, experiences, and feelings are unimportant. Yes, it is important to learn whatever the curriculum is, but doing so at the expense of invalidating a student is destructive.

That, and he has the nerve to say young people today are spoiled, when his parents paid for his entire education. I sure wasn't that fortunate.

The formative years ARE important. Devoting time and attention to ensure children grow and develop in a healthy way is crucial to society's happiness. IMO that is not the same thing as spoiling them (and spoiling them does need to be avoided).

Well, if he's talking about college students, then I think he's right. Critical thinking skills are woefully ignored in the public schools today, which is why people talk about how something makes them feel instead of looking at problems logically.

(Note that I didn't read the article. For all I know he may be talking about first graders, in which case I agree with you, not him.)

 

[Rembrandtfan]

There are things I agree with in the article, but also things I sort of disagree with. I definitely agree that America has become a child-centric culture. I think there needs to be some kind of balance between being overinvolved and underinvolved as a parent. Many parents today have a tendency to go to the overinvolved extreme where they are micromanaging their children's lives. But I do see the underinvolved extreme happen, too.

My upbringing was similar to what the author described his being like. My parents were good parents and I know they loved me, but they did seem emotionally distant much of the time. I think it's good for parents to have individual time and outside interests, but there should be some individual time for each child with the parent. A child needs to feel somewhat connected with his/her parent. And the more children you have, and the more demands on your time, the harder that is to do. It's hard to find the perfect balance. But I don't believe parents should be child-idolaters either. Many children nowadays seem so demanding and seem to need constant entertainment. They are not learning to be creative about doing anything on their own, to solve their own problems with just the right amount of assistance from their parents.

 

[jelvenko]

Five or six years' age difference between siblings is probably not an ideal difference for the development of closeness between brothers and sisters... No, a five- or six-year separation is doubtless not the best spacing between two kids growing up in the same household.

I find this to be amusing. And not true. At least in my case.

I'm from a family of 6 kids. (I'm number 5.) There are 11 years between my oldest brother and younger sister. There's about 1-1 1/2 years between my four older siblings. There's about 4 years between my older sister and I and theres 2 1/2 years between my little sister and I. (Reason for the age gaps is because my parents supposedly stopped having kids after 4.) I am extremely close to my oldest brother and little sister. There's 9 years between my brother and I. He was already in high school by the time I started school. But the age difference didn't cause any problems with us bonding. I'm also somewhat close to my older sister, and when we were kids I lookedup to her and wanted to be like her. My little sister is my best friend though. My other two brothers, I never really was that close to. But all six of us still had fun together. Despite the age range. Actually, I think that helped add to the excitement and fun.

So yeah, I disagree with the author on that point. (Sorry it's so long.)