Indeed, this seems to be a problem. Even with unusually bright children, it seems deception still remains the only charitable option, otherwise you’re pretty much condemning them to an early dose of “Everyone expects X of you. You must do X. We both know X is wrong, and stupid, and your next ten years will be a waste of time and effort and resources, but you must do X or be treated like a demon.” and all the subsequent depression, narcissism, detachment and unhappiness.
Encouraging them to obtain information on their own and keep asking questions seems like the most worthwhile strategy.
Children are often visibly treated more like pets than people, at least in north american society. When a child asks a scientific question that upsets religious creed, receives a dogmatic answer and instructions to never speak of it again, and then loudly rejects this answer in light of obvious evidence, what happens isn’t a discussion or an argument with the person, the child themselves...
What happens is an angry parent screaming “WHAT THE F*** DID YOU DO TO MY CHILD?!”, in similar manner to how someone might yell at a pet-keeper upon finding out that the cat was taught to scratch itself and eat rotten food when it was left in their care during the owner’s vacation.
Everyone expects X of you. You must do X. We both know X is wrong, and stupid, and your next ten years will be a waste of time and effort and resources, but you must do X or be treated like a demon.
Where X = going to school, for instance.
On the other hand, if you don’t tell them, most of them will come to that conclusion anyway. Then they will feel just as depressed, but also alienated from the oppressive adult caste.
On the other hand, if you don’t tell them, most of them will come to that conclusion anyway. Then they will feel just as depressed, but also alienated from the oppressive adult caste.
Preparing children for dealing better with the situations and problems described in both of those seems like the best thing a rogue teacher can do for their students, at least at the ages mentioned by the OP. It seems like organized support from the parents, school board, school personnel / other teachers or preferably all of those would be necessary to really achieve more.
I don’t raise my kids this way and neither does anybody else in my large community. I’m not saying everybody everywhere is enlightened, but there are large swaths of civilization where kids are trained to think.
In my own case, i constantly answer my children’s questions with questions, and have never yelled at anyone for the way they have answered my kids questions. I have certainly undermined some of their answers, but not most.
Indeed, this seems to be a problem. Even with unusually bright children, it seems deception still remains the only charitable option, otherwise you’re pretty much condemning them to an early dose of “Everyone expects X of you. You must do X. We both know X is wrong, and stupid, and your next ten years will be a waste of time and effort and resources, but you must do X or be treated like a demon.” and all the subsequent depression, narcissism, detachment and unhappiness.
Encouraging them to obtain information on their own and keep asking questions seems like the most worthwhile strategy.
Children are often visibly treated more like pets than people, at least in north american society. When a child asks a scientific question that upsets religious creed, receives a dogmatic answer and instructions to never speak of it again, and then loudly rejects this answer in light of obvious evidence, what happens isn’t a discussion or an argument with the person, the child themselves...
What happens is an angry parent screaming “WHAT THE F*** DID YOU DO TO MY CHILD?!”, in similar manner to how someone might yell at a pet-keeper upon finding out that the cat was taught to scratch itself and eat rotten food when it was left in their care during the owner’s vacation.
Where X = going to school, for instance.
On the other hand, if you don’t tell them, most of them will come to that conclusion anyway. Then they will feel just as depressed, but also alienated from the oppressive adult caste.
I find most avoid considering the question.
Something like that, yes. What I had in mind was mostly stuff related to / described in: Gatto’s Lessons and Graham’s essay on nerds.
Preparing children for dealing better with the situations and problems described in both of those seems like the best thing a rogue teacher can do for their students, at least at the ages mentioned by the OP. It seems like organized support from the parents, school board, school personnel / other teachers or preferably all of those would be necessary to really achieve more.
I don’t raise my kids this way and neither does anybody else in my large community. I’m not saying everybody everywhere is enlightened, but there are large swaths of civilization where kids are trained to think.
In my own case, i constantly answer my children’s questions with questions, and have never yelled at anyone for the way they have answered my kids questions. I have certainly undermined some of their answers, but not most.
Upvoted for quote, though unsure on conclusion. Has this been tried, that you’ve seen?