What adults can learn from kids
Welcome back, incredible BookDuck Fans. Do you remember when was the last time you were called childish? Was it because you were young and acting irresponsibly or irrationally? But guess what? Your age doesn't have much to do with that.
Let's hear a Ted talk by Adora Svitak where she suggests that the word "childish" should be abolished when criticizing behavior related to irresponsibility and that children have more potential than we think.
The three main ideas she explores in her talk are how age doesn’t determine responsibility, inherent wisdom and her parents expectations which inspired her to be successful.
1. Age doesn’t determine responsibility
She begins by saying that age does not determine responsibility. Throughout history, this has been proven by children who have made significant contributions to society, such as Anne Frank, Ruby Bridges, and Charlie Simpson. These are just some of the people that touched millions with their work and helped bring positive changes to the world. By such examples, we can see age has nothing to do with it.
Therefore she suggests that the word "childish" should be abolished because it is age discriminatory. The traits the word childish addresses are often seen in adults. But the thing is that kids are not hampered when it comes to thinking about reasons why not to do something. Kids are full of inspiring aspirations and hopeful thinking. I am sure many of you dream about utopias. But the unfortunate thing is that we can only dream of perfection and not have it because of past failures or attempts. Don't worry, though; it's a good thing to dream about perfection because that's the only way it can become a reality. It starts with dreaming first. Our ability to imagine helps push the boundaries of possibility.
An example is at the Museum of Glass in Washington. There is a program called Kids Design Glass where kids draw their ideas for glass art. A resident artist said that some of the best ideas from the program are created by children because they don't think of the limitations. They start by thinking of good ideas and then they push the boundaries of possibility.
2. Inherent Wisdom
She then moves on to speak about inherent wisdom. Now when it comes to inherent wisdom, it should not be insider knowledge. Being a kid herself, Svitak shares how kids do a lot of learning from adults already, and they have to share a lot. But she has a better option: she thinks adults should start learning from kids. Now, can you imagine students teaching their teachers instead of the teachers being at the head of the class and telling students, "do this, do that"! Learning between adults and kids should be reciprocal. Unfortunately, the reality is different. It has a lot to do with the lack of trust. And when we don't trust someone, we start putting restrictions on them. History has proven that oppressive regulations are created when it's hard to maintain control. Kids have little say in making rules overall, and therefore, the adult population should take into account the wishes of the younger ones. Kids' abilities are often underestimated. But guess what? Kids love challenges.
3. Personal Experience
Last but not least she is familiar with all of this through personal experience. The speaker shares how her parents were the opposite and always had high expectations for her and her siblings. They were not forced to become doctors, but instead of hearing "The wheels on the bus go round and round," they heard about Aristotle from a young age. Having this type of childhood did her love writing, and thanks to the computer her mom bought, she started writing short stories. Now, she has written over 300 stories on that little laptop. And her parents always supported her even when she said that at such a young age, she wanted to publish her work. Many publishers were not supportive, though. One large children's publisher ironically even said they don't work with children. It's awkward, right, that a children's publisher is not working with children? Well, guess what? They are alienating a large client there.
But there are some exclusions.
One publisher, Action Publishing, was willing to trust her. They listened to what she had to say, and they published her first book called "Flying Fingers". From there on, it went to speaking at hundreds of schools, keynoting to thousands of educators, and finally, the TED talk speaking to all of us.
She ends by speaking about the goal of the younger generation. The goal is not to turn kids into the adults we have now. But rather to create better adults than there have been. It may be challenging, but progress will be seen because new generations and new eras grow and develop and help us become better than before.
To sum up, in her TED talk Adora Svitak calls to action by calling it imperative to create opportunities for children so that they can grow to blow people away. Remember, you are the leaders of tomorrow. People should start listening and trusting you guys. Now, go start planning how you're going to make a difference in this world. You can do it! Let’s prove that adults can always learn something from us!
