Admittedly, I made this word up because I could not find a word to describe the cultural evolution of protecting kids from their own exploration, interest, and passions; all while expecting less and less from them in terms of their contribution to their own families, community and society. So here is my definition of infantizum:
infantizum –
1. The cultural state of impeding adult thinking by sequestering children from their own explorations.
2. Misplaced protectionism by parents, schools and agencies to protect children and keep them safe from all forms of harm or discomfort leading to and overall acceptance that children are incapable and not expected to contribute to society.
3. Expecting children to do little of worth, example – school curriculum requiring less of students such as didactic thought processes.
This is not to be confused with the close cousin infantilisum which is an actual word.
infantilism – noun –
1. A state of arrested development in an adult, characterized by retention of infantile mentality, accompanied by stunted growth and sexual immaturity, and often by dwarfism.
2. Extreme immaturity, as in behavior or character.
To make my point I would offer the following examples and then ask you what you would think of your own children, at the sames age making their mark like these young people.
America’s first admiral, David Farragut was 12 years old when he took command of the captured British vessel, HMS Alert and sailed her from Peru to Boston in the War of 1812. Farragut was the same age as George Washington was when he dropped out of school, the same as Thomas Jefferson was when he took over and successful managed his deceased parent’s 250 acre plantation. Joan of Arc began her quest at the age of 12 as well. She petitioned the King of France twice before she was 15 years old and led a revolt to boot the British from France before the British captured her. The list goes on and on throughout history of great leaders and remarkable contributions made by young people who did not accept their role as children but rather their passion.
And if your child doesn’t have that kind of passion or interest, should we be asking why? Or should we be happy that they are safe at home playing Xbox?
If your not convinced 100 years ago, before we had billion dollar school budgets, required reading for fifth graders was William Shakespeare, Henry Thoreau, George Washington, Sir Walter Scott, Mark Twain, Benjamin Franklin, Oliver Wendell Holmes, John Bunyan, Daniel Webster, Lewis Caroll, Thomas Jefferson, Emerson and other literary greats. In fact, these were the authors included in in the Appleton School Reader for fifth grade students. Now, we’re told that students shouldn’t be expected to spell word correctly, like mother, night, little, people or morning.
A 30 year teaching veteran of the New York City public school system, John Taylor Gatto has some interesting and disturbing revelations for us in his books on the subject of schooling vs education and dumbing down our youngsters. One of my favorites from Weapons of Mass Instruction is;
“Now, you needn’t have studied marketing to know that there are two groups of people who can always be convinced to consume more than they need to: addicts and children. School has done a pretty good job of turning our children into addicts, but a spectacular job of turning our children into children. Again, this is no accident. Theorists from Plato to Rousseau … knew that if children could be cloistered with other children, stripped of responsibility and independence, encouraged to develop only the trivializing emotions of greed, envy, jealousy and fear, they would grow older but never truly grow up.”
So what do we need more of, Tiger Mothers or Helicopter Parents? I don’t think either is the answer, but having high expectations is a start. We have spent so much time telling kids what they can’t do, shouldn’t do and scheduling a full weeks of soccer practice they have little to rely on when it comes to real world experience. Then maybe encouraging our children in their own worthwhile interests might be the next step.
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London Oct 29 ANI A survey has found that more children in Scotland now get most of their information about sex from school rather than from their friends or family.The Edinburgh University study funded by NHS Health Scotland found nearly a half of 15-year-old boys at 49 percent and 34 percent of girls said they got their information from school compared to 29 percent and 23 percent in 2002.Another 28 percent of boys and 32 percent of girls said they got their information from friends and just 9 percent of boys and 14 percent of girls found out about sex from parents.The survey also found young people who report school as their main source of information were less likely to have had sex than those who say they get their information from their parents or friends.Just 18 percent of boys and 23 percent of girls who report getting their information from school have had sex compared to 41 percent of boys and 43 percent of girls having sex who had got their information from friends.Researchers also said 76 percent of girls found it easiest to discuss sex with a friend compared to 71 percent of boys.In contrast just 13 percent of boys and 12 percent of girls said parents were the easiest person to talk about sex with.And only 3 percent of boys and 1 percent of girls found a teacher was best to discuss such matters with. This paper highlights the impact of the increasing prevalence of information provided about sexual matters to young people at school the Scotsman quoted researcher Jo Kirby of the University of Edinburghs Child and Adolescent Health Research Unit as saying. Improving teacher-pupil communication about sexual matters may further increase the benefits associated with sex education in schools Kirby stated.However critics warned it would be too much for children of such a young age to cope with. The Scottish Government values the provision of good quality sex and relationships education in schools a Scottish Government spokeswoman said. As this report shows schools can and do make a difference in educating our young people about relationships sexual health and parenthood but they cannot do it on their own she added.The survey was carried out in 300 schools across Scotland and questioned more than 2 000 pupils aged 15.The research is part of a wider Health Behaviour in School-aged Children HBSC study an international survey by the World Health Organisation involving more than 40 countries in Europe and North America. Saturday December 6 2008 16 01 IST London December 6 ANI An American study has shown that the brains of kids belonging to low-income families process information differently to those of children from wealthier homes………
The share of fathers who are residing with their children has fallen dramatically in the past half century according to an article I read. While in 1960 only 11 percent of children lived away from their father in 1960 now more than one in four children is separated from their father.
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