There are so many things we wish our children would grow up knowing. However, separating the wheat from the chaff, the wisdom from the illusions is always a tough thing to do. And some things that our kids end up learning do more harm than good, don’t you think, dear Pandas?
Well, the parents of Reddit have been pitching in and sharing their takes on what harmful things are being taught to children in a viral thread over on r/AskReddit. From advice on how we should always be double-checking information to embracing failure instead of running away from it, some of these tips and tricks are spot-on and help kids grow into healthy, happy adults. (And don’t tell anyone this, but some of us adults could use a handful of these tips, too.)
Have a read through them below and upvote the ones you agree with. Got any additional tips on what things children should and shouldn’t be taught? Be sure to share your thoughts with all the other Readers in the comment section.
I reached out to Lenore Skenazy to learn more about how to overcome the passive mindset that kids are taught to embrace in school and to be actively driven by curiosity into adulthood. Lenore is the founder of the Free-Range Kids movement and the president of Let Grow, a nonprofit organization that fights overprotection, promotes independence, and makes kids ‘future-proof.’ and the founder of the Free-Range Kids movement. You’ll find her insights that she shared with Bored Panda below, dear Readers.
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Little girls get told all the time that boys are bullying them because they like them
Boys don't cry.
Let the damn boys cry
Making children hug or kiss someone (usually a relative) that they are uncomfortable with is not good. The child may just be grumpy and or not wanting to show affection or their warning bell sensors could be going off and they do not know how to communicate that. Plus forcing them to hug/kiss sends mixed messages about personal/physical boundaries and affection itself
Modern schooling, if left to its own devices, generally has the unwanted effect of making kids far more passive than we’d like them to be. School tends to reward following orders and compliance more than independence, active curiosity, and drive. And that’s an issue that can have far-reaching consequences, one of which is the fear of doing what you want or trying new things.
“When a seventh-grade teacher friend of mine asked her students—aged 12 and 13—what new things they wanted to do on their own, but were still a little hesitant to try, the responses were rather shocking to me,” Lenore, the founder of Let Grow and the Free-Range Kids movement, shared with Bored Panda.
“One kid wanted to walk the dog—but was afraid it would get off the leash. Another said he wanted to go to the store—but he’d never been inside one without his mom, and he was worried about being surrounded by strangers. A few said they wanted to take a bike ride or even climb a tree, but they were afraid of hurting themselves.”
What to think instead of how to think
That failure is bad. Failing should not be considered as an obstacle but a step in the learning process. Demonizing the failure and stigma associated with it makes many children lose their interest once they fail.
Lenore explained that “our catastrophizing culture” has scared parents so much, they’re anxious about letting their kids do pretty much anything and everything. While there are exceptions, of course, many parents veer sharply towards being overprotective and overbearing because they fear for their munchkins’ safety.
Ironically, the result is the opposite of what they want. “The result is not safety, it’s anxiety—kids who absorbed the message that everything is too much for them to handle. When you’re anxious, a simple slip-up doesn’t seem so simple. It seems huge—even life-threatening. How can you avoid those awful threats? That part is simple,” Lenore detailed. “You avoid doing anything.”
Doing nothing is exactly what the seventh graders that Lenore mentioned up above ended up doing. That fear spread to other parts of their life in the classroom, from taking tests (“what if they got a bad grade?”) to asking the teacher which side of the page they should write their name on (“they wouldn’t dare just choose their own!”).
Nobody cares about children’s/teens issues. “Well it’s only going to get worse from here”. “You think school is hard? Have you ever paid a f**king bill” “You’re just a kid you can’t feel this way”.
It breeds an emotional disconnect from parents and their kids. And makes kids feel alone in their emotional struggles, that nobody cares because they’re not adults and they don’t have “Adult Problems”.
Exactly. People often have bad assumptions of teenagers, but they have myriads of issues they don't talk about.
It seems like forcing kids to eat everything off their plate is pretty harmful, it doesn't matter if they're full, they have to clean off their plate and they can't leave the table until they do
I agree, this doesn't allow children to self regulate and know when they are full. It me years to unlearn this behavior.
That you can be anything you want in life.
Sorry but this just isn't correct. Poor Eddie who can't grasp basic division isn't going to be an astronaut
I agree with this 100%. I also hate the saying that everything is possible if you put your mind to it. Umm no, not everything is possible for everyone.
“The teacher told one girl who came to class late and hadn’t had time to get lunch, ‘That’s ok—just go grab something from the cafeteria and come back!’ ‘By myself?’ the girl asked. She was afraid to walk down the halls of her safe school, in a safe neighborhood, in suburban New York. Everyday life is seen as filled with risk.”
This passivity isn’t making children any happier, Lenore put it bluntly. Instead, kids are kept deep inside their comfort zones fully believing that it’s all that they can stand and that this is all that life has to offer. Fortunately, the students that Lenore mentioned had an awesome teacher who didn’t want them to go into high school and then adulthood with so much fear in their lives.
“She wanted to break the shell growing thicker around them every day. And so she assigned The Let Grow Project—a homework assignment that tells kids to, ‘Go home and do something new, on your own.’ At last, the kids were given a push to get out of their comfort zone—and so were their parents. After all, now school was telling them to let go of their kids and give them a little independence,” Lenore said.
“No “tattle tails” or “snitching”
How many kids are abused or bullied and won’t come forward because of this?”
The best way to 'deal' with a kid who is constantly snitching on others for minute things, in my experience, is to take them seriously and if it is possible (which with small conflicts between children it normally almost always is) to tell them to resolve the conflict on their own, by talking. Or, if the snitching kid actually was the one causing the conflict, to show them that you are aware of who actually started it ('Sarah was mean to me!' 'That is not nice, but I also saw you taking away her stuff. Could it be that she wasn't nice to you because of that?') Snitching becomes much less exciting, when there is no adult who goes berserk on the one your snitching on (or if you get caught doing something 'bad' yourself)
"If he's mean to you he likes you" It just teaches little girls (mostly girls) to expect violence from people who love them
Again, this comes from people thinking girls are easier to control. "It is easier for us to teach the girl that she likes being hit than it is for us to teach the boy to stop hitting."
My son’s preschool has a strict “you do not have to play if you don’t want to” policy. No one has to play with anyone they don’t want to play with. They say that no one has to to hug or touch anyone or be touched if they don’t want it. No one has to share their toys or other school supplies if they aren’t done with it. In fact the preschool teacher will go over and referee and say “is Bobby done with the toy car? No? Then Mikey, you have to wait until he is done.” It’s pretty refreshing. I wanted to let you know there are new philosophies and my son’s preschool really strongly teaches body autonomy. Your body is your own and no one can touch it or make you do anything with it without your permission
Oh, I'm not totally fine with this. Sometimes some guidance can be refreshing too for that kid that has a hard time connecting or little Bobby has been hogging that car the whole day. Small children totally act on instinct. Helping them look at other angles isn't going to hurt anyone. Just don't force anything. Hugs and physical contact? Totally agree. Although I feel this is more of an American thing?
“You can see the results in this 2-minute video. That teacher made them do twenty Let Grow Projects. And the result was kids blossoming like crazy—riding their bikes, joining sports programs, piercing their ears, making dinner, walking to town with their friends, and discovering how great it is to do rather than to hide.”
Lenore stressed that any school can do The Let Grow Project and all of their materials are available absolutely for free. You’ll find the project right here and the Independence Kit right over here.”It works for kids aged 5 to 14 or so. And by the way, if you or your school do The Project, drop me a note—I’d love to hear about it! You can write to me via Info@LetGrow.org,” Lenore added, saying that she wants you, dear Pandas, to reach out to her.
Being wrong is bad. That's why many people don't change their mind when they were given trustable sources, they don't want to be wrong
It's more than that, it's that being wrong will get you made fun of. Being wrong makes you an idiot.
Abstinence only sex education. This is more of what they're not being taught. Proper sex education is important.
Edit: For anyone interested I'm posting a link to a John Oliver segment on Americas sex education system. Its very informative but also quite funny.
I am just curious but do any other countries do abstinence based sex education or is it really only America?
My mom would often punish me for something, and whenever I asked why or what I did I was told “I’m the adult and you are the child” or “because I said so” or “you shouldn’t need a reason”.
How can punishment have any positive effect when the child has no idea what they did wrong?
I don't know.. Maybe, the parent... tells them? Hmmm... Sounds crazy! No that couldn't happen... Why wouldn't the parent, tell the child what they did wrong? Then punish them?
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This sounds like my mom. Like punishing me hurts her more than it does me. What a load of crock.
Lol that was also my mom too. I erroneously replied to the #13 "If he's mean to you he likes you" XP
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"Don't cry or I'll give you a reason to cry" is another classic. Why assume a child is crying for "no reason"? Really?
Yeah I read this a while ago and it changed my perspective on stuff a little but for young children, they don't know everything about the world so something that seems insignificant to us can be their entire world right then. If a teenager wants a cookie or whatever and their parent says no, the teen knows they might get one later, and finds something else to focus on, but with a small child that cookie is all they want right now, it's the only thing they are focused on and if they don't get it they're going to be more upset. So even though crying over the cookie seems stupid to us, it's not for them
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That is something I always appreciated about my parents. Every rule had a reason and they were willing to discuss it with us. They raised us to question and knew that meant we would question them, too.
Got detention is school. Asked why. "you know what you did." 45 years later I still have no idea.
Yes, that is no answer. Every order needs a reason, and EVERYONE as the right to it. If the adult was asked a reason by their parents, they would answer, right? And, if it involves discipline, the child will be confused for decades, if not the rest of their life. It makes them feel unheard, and that they are viewed as "inferior"
My Mom was the same way, when I asked her years later she said, "Because sometimes you just have to say '"No'" Not much of an answer if you ask me. How do you expect kids to respect you and your decisions if they don't get the same respect in return? I always found this to be an unfair and unjust response. I needed to learn why, don't I?
I use the excuse because I said so for when I say no to things and they constantly ask why lol, but never as a reason to punish my kids. Actions have consequences and if you can’t give a reason for the consequence then the child doesn’t deserve to be punished.
Well, becoming a parent does not make anybody smarter. There are plenty of children who are wiser than their parents.
No. If you want your children to learn, you explain why the thing they did was wrong.
"Because I said so" is what parents say when there isn't a (good) reason for what they are asking. Yes,there are times that something has to be done in a timely manner, but there should be an explaination given when there's time.
So true, if a kid snatches a toy from someone, ask them how they felt when another child snatched something from them, apply the feeling back to them.
Once thing is that you cannot explain all the things to a child in a moment and you must use your authority and another one is imposing things that do not have any sense
Your right, sometimes an explaination can't be given in the moment, but one should be given when there is time.
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How do you teach a child what they have done wrong if you just punish them and not explain why that’s wrong or bad/dangerous
My parents did this to me and it was so crushing. My son is 4 and I always give him a reason, even if it's because I'm too tired or don't feel like it. We do pretty good with it. He's begun explaining why he's doing what he's doing even if it's just because he feels weird today.
Or the famous "Do as I say and not as I do." You want me to refrain from doing something, lead by example.
JESUS CHRIST YES--my mom and dad ALWAYS say things like this. In fact, just the other day, my dad tried to tell me "That's the thing with your generation. They think they should get things from older people that they believe are owed to them, but really, nothing is owed to them." He was trying to justify why he wouldn't give me an explanation about me doing something that I'm told to do. Both of my parents are like "We don't owe you an explanation, we're the adults and at the end of the day, we make the final decision because we're so fricking important and your opinion matters so little you might as well not even exist."
And when they get old and feeble, and expect you to take care of them, you won't owe them an explaination of why your putting them in the cheapest, crappiest hellhole of a nursing home you can find... 😈
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Yeah you should really tell your kids the reason. HOWEVER, if they're completely unreasonable, I think it is ok when the parent gets too stressed to have to explain an endless cycle of questions. It is important to teach kids the reason to enable them to learn to think. Also, if you are ever challenged on your thinking, you can better explain yourself. The first time someone really questioned my religion, I completely lost my faith. My parents never told me the reason for things so it wasy easy to pick apart.
Good point. Maybe, if possible, take time to explain the reasons for punishment after both of you calmed down. Then maybe you can make promises to each other and build trust.
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I gotta say...I will do all the "right" ways to respond and kids find that vulnerability and will try to weasle in until I finally say "Because I said so". I realize I sound like an old school mother. It is not to say I don't get their input, validate them, explain, but sometimes they don't want to respect an answer. Some answers have no room for negotiations or leeway and they get used to that. Sometimes you have to give a firm no.
Then you say that. There is no room for negotiation. Not just because
Load More Replies... When I was a kid I would have agreed with this, but as an adult I find that a lot of the time the problem is that the adult actually did give a reason, the kid just doesn't like the reason.
In an earlier interview with Lenore, the president of Let Grow, and the founder of the Free-Range Kids movement, told Bored Panda about how kids can keep their curiosity burning and their desire to learn bright and well-honed as they grow.
"I’ve been wondering this myself: How to stay curious when hit by 'the blahs?' Next to Covid (and in great part thanks to Covid) the blahs are the most catching virus around. You get tired and bored by being tired and bored, talking about being tired and bored, and succumbing to them,” Lenore said about how the pandemic is making all of us feel less energetic, physically and mentally.
“Unfortunately, the whole thing is self-reinforcing: A feeling of listlessness leads you to scroll through your social media of choice, which makes you feel more blah, leading you to scroll some more, etc."
Doing the right thing will sometimes make others hate you. Be prepared for that.
That complaining is the same as not being grateful. Can’t count the number of times growing up when adults basically told me to shut up whenever I was complaining about something and that I should be grateful that I was born where I was. Like sure, I’m glad I wasn’t born into some starving African family, but that doesn’t mean everything is perfect over here and that we shouldn’t try to improve things here as well.
Yes I hate this. People even say it to adults. We are entitled to our feelings, doesn’t matter if someone has a worse life than us, everyone copes with things differently.
No is a 'bad' word. It's a strong word but not a bad one.
Lenore put it bluntly: if we want to be curious about life again, if we want to be constantly learning, we have to start off by getting off the couch. “Force yourself out the door. Why? Because beyond your four walls, things are never exactly the same. Weather, animals, people, sounds, smells, clouds—they’re all swirling about."
She continued: "Ask yourself to start noticing new things. I did that this morning with a friend. We took a walk around our neighborhood and started looking for interesting details in the homes and buildings we passed. It went from a walk down streets we’d seen a million times to a sort of treasure hunt. And the big thing we were really hunting for? Curiosity! When you’re curious, you’re alive again—noticing, thinking, making connections. You can’t do that if there’s no new information coming in. So your first step is to force yourself out of a rut by leaving the house (harder during the pandemic, but not impossible)."
"The parents never make a mistake"
"No backtalk." Many adults use it as "you're not allowed to challenge what I have to say." Makes sense if it's a cranky toddler being negative for negativity's sake, but suddenly older children can't question things or raise valid points of their own.
That you shouldnt hit a woman. Dont hit anyone! (unless its self defence) If my child is being hit by a woman, and bullied...equal rights equal fights
If you look at the pandemic from a different perspective, it might motivate you to start learning new things. For instance, think about what you’d wish you’d learned or a skill that you’d like to have honed by the end of the pandemic.
“Think of something you’d like to be able to say you’ve been working on, especially once life returns to normal: 'Well, I wasted a lot of that free time I had, but at least I started...' Or, 'At least I learned…' For my sister, she’s taking ballet online. For my husband, he’s learning film editing. For me, it’s… oh God! I better come up with something fast! Um…let’s say I will learn how to create a Clubhouse program. Ok?" Lenore quipped that even the best of the best can struggle with this during the lockdowns.
Happened to my son in middle school, a kid sucker punched my son. My son then fought back and pinned the kid against the wall ( he has long arms) and punched him a few times. The school called me and my wife and told us our son was suspended. We went to the school and they said even though multiple witnesses as well as the kid said he threw the first punch that the school had a zero tolerance policy so our son would be suspended. We asked what the school believed our son should have done and they said he should just walk away. We told them that he would not be receiving any punishment at home and that the policy was f**ked up.
I think what we're not taught is more harmful. For example the fact that we never learn (at least in my country) how to fact check things.
Even leaving the house to get your blood flowing is a great step toward learning a new skill. What’s more, feeling envy toward someone who’s good at a particular skill or particularly learned is a good way to get yourself motivated to strive for more.
“Do not worry if you are taking that first step as simply something you’re doing thanks to social pressure, or for someone other than yourself. Change is change—the motivation doesn’t matter,” Lenore told Bored Panda.
Lenore believes that we should always be questing to learn more about the world while verifying whether or not something is actually true. That means navigating the world of false claims and fake news.
That everybody is a winner. No. Losing and disappointments are part of life and they are integral to your growth both emotionally and socially. We have a lot of people who enter the real world who have been told they are deserving of things just because and cannot take rejections and losses in their personal and professional lives with any grace whatsoever. This is also resulting in mediocrity being accepted as a norm cos nobody wants to call out ineptitude. While the hard work and dedication being put in by people who do end up in good positions are being played down. It's a little harsh but it's true. Kids gotta learn how to lose before they can truly start to win. That's the only way being gracious in victory will ever come about.
Participation trophies may lead to giving no effort at all in my opinion. Why would someone try if they're going to get praised anyway? Embrace failure, learn from it and if you want to succeed you can try harder next time :)
Kids are starting social media so early these days, and I think that’s very dangerous because it puts a lot of pressure on the kid to attribute their worth to their social media success. I also think parents are way too open with their social media when it comes to their kids, and it’s totally a violation of the child’s privacy, of which some parents will never admit
My 'favorite mum was the one who wouldn't allow the nursery school I worked in to take any photos of their child (making her child the only one who didn't get a memory book and learning portfolio) and screamed at me, because I (a man) was helping her daughter get dressed after she peed herself (she never objected to me doing so in advance and knew, that was one of my duties). She herself then proceeded to post hundreds of pictures of her daughter, including nude swimming pool photos, on facebook.
Bullies are only bullies because they feel insecure about themselves and you should sympathize with them. **k that, if someone is being s****y to you then they don't deserve your sympathy.
"When you’re reading an article that seems to be so shocking that you’re amazed this is the first time you’re hearing about it, take a short phrase from the piece and Google it. If something strikes you as fishy, go fishing," she said.
"As for whether or not your fishing will lead you to disinformation rather than the truth, try not to fish blindly. If you’re curious about crime stats, for instance, look these up on a government website, not some random blog," she explained. Checking websites like Snopes to see if some shocking stories are real or not is a good move.
Not owning up to their mistakes or blaming them on others.
Children do learn about sex at a young age, it just isn’t usually in a productive way. I know I did.
My own experience: questions like this are why I believe in being infinitely clear with my kids….”you are going to hear total [nonsense] from other kids. If you hear something you don’t understand, come talk to me. You can ask me anything and expect a decent answer.” And I would give examples of the total [nonsense] I had heard as a kid, most of which would result in pregnancy.
Son, age 6. Daughter, age 7. Riding home from school: daughter says “Tiffany said she had sex with my brother.” Which left me a grand total of 3 minutes to gather my wits before we got home.
OK, do you guys know what sex is? Blank looks. Sex is when you take off all of your clothes and rub privates together. You can make babies that way. Looks of shock and disgust. Do you think your brother had sex with Tiffany? Nooo! I think she was using a really bad way of trying to say she likes him, and maybe she watches the wrong TV shows where if people like each other they always have sex.
Were my kids really ready for a sex talk? No, not really. They didn’t care. Did we really need to have one about then? Yep. My job as a parent is to be there to put things that come up in context for them, not run around after them deciding what and when they need to know things.
How to internalize stress and implode as teens and adults.
Note: this post originally had 50 images. It’s been shortened to the top 30 images based on user votes.
As a nursery school teacher I want to add a lie, we always tell parents: that they are the 'experts' for their own child. No. The 'Expert' for your child is your child. They know, what is best for them. They might have difficulties voicing it, but it is our job to help them translate. Sure, kids love to do risky things, but not because they don't know what is good for them, but because they don't know much about the world yet. If a kid tells you, that they want to jump down the Niagara falls, what they are telling you probably is: 'I want to explore', 'I want to be somewhere high up and see the world from a new perspective' 'Or I want to go to the water'. They tell you, which learning experiences at that moment would benefit their development. We then have to translate it into something safe. ('Maybe we should jump from the tower in the local swimming pool first?')
"They know what is the best for them". If would depend on my kids 5 and 3 they would watch cartoons all day long and eat only pasta Bolognese and pizza. I don't know how to translate this into something "useful /healthy"
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I have one...Telling kids that being part of the lgbtq+ is bad or you shouldn't be an allie.. this in my opinion is dumb because kids are young and are still trying to find themselfs I'm non-binary who grew up in a lgbtq+phobic household and when I then figured out myself I got really scared and upset because I thought if I told my family they would get pissed ( which they did) which led me into deppression. also saying kids wont understand lgbtq+ and are doing for a trend please kids are saying they n word for no reason and cussing ,starting good protests. please kids know things about the world and if a kid is lgbtq+ you might not agree I cant force you too but please respect it.
Also Cischet people can be apart of the LGBTQ+ Straight Asexuals and Aromantics.
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Something we need to tell children and adults is that parents are not perfect, they are very imperfect - but as human beings they are striving to work on that. Ideally they have improved on how their parents raised them and their children will do more so if they have children. I have generational trauma that my father survived, while he did not visit it on us there were other things (his trauma leaking out making him kind of weird), I know I will do the same but we acknowledge it in our family. There is something I will unknowingly pass on, while I can't stop that I can admit that it's probably there and make room for more healing.
Children should be free from religion. I never understood how some parents could dictate their children what to believe.
Reminds me of "Religion is like a penis. It's ok to have it. It's even ok to be proud of it. But it's NOT ok to talk about it all the time. AND IT'S DEFINITELY NOT OK TO SHOVE IT DOWN OUR CHILDREN'S THROATS "
Load More Replies... is it just me or is this server getting more and more f****d up every day? replies appearing under wrong comments, comments disappearing randomly when clicked on "view more comments/replies", upvoting and downvoting doesn't work at all...
Yes! Comments are wrong, the downvoted ones are at the top....I'm glad it's not just me!
Load More Replies... One thing I would like to add: yes, teach your child to entertain themselves, but also spend time with them. My mom was SOOO pleased I left her alone (happily) while she worked on her master's. However, I remeber feeling sad at times because she was too busy for me to show her my puzzle, or whatever. Now, I am struggling to figure out how to entertain myself, and when I ask my mom (who has nothing to do but sit and worry all day) to play a bored game with me, or something time consuming, or even to just let me read a fiction book out loud to her, she almost always refuses...and I feel she has no interesting in doing something together. In fact, just 5 years ago, a request to do something with her was usually answered with "let's take a nap". I have literally napped ONCE since I was younger than 3.
Stop telling them that Covid is a cold and that face masks will kill them.
the one thing parents must not teach their children is that illnesses are bad and are things you can use as slang. For example, where I live, all kids (mostly 8 year old boys) love to use the word schizophrenic as an insult. THIS IS NOT OK. WHY? And mental illnesses are also considered funny and stupid. this is not okay and it needs to stop. And no, I am not sexist. It's just the fact that boys here are taught that it's okay to make fun of people. And they are also really pressured by society to be "cool" and use these words. Just so you know, most don't even know what the word means.
My parents told me to stop saying ‘I don’t know’ and shrugging because it’s not the ‘right’ answer. They told me I was being too moody and blamed it on my, not my hormones. I am becoming a teenager now, and everyone blames it on me. It’s not like I can stop growing up. Another thing would be that my parents would punish me, I’d ask what I did wrong and they’d give me some stupid excuse like ‘because I said so’ or ‘I’m the parent’. This even happened with my friends, when I was in grade 1 or 2. They said they could tell me what to do because they were older than me. And one more thing: my parents force me to socialise with people I don’t know. Like, my parents’ friends and their kids. I never knew them but I was forced to say hello, greet myself and play with them. Once, I was going for a walk, and my brother and I went ahead of my parents, there was a lady, a man and two children. Then, the lady said hello to us. We didn’t know if she was a stranger or a friend.
We make it now seem like it's bad to be weird. my parents have always made sure i embrace my inner weird, and Im thankful for that.
I'm shocked that "Because I said so" wasn't on the list, much less #1 on the list!! ............ And I think it's what is NOT being taught to kids anymore = self reliance, honesty, compassion, manners, etiquette, social responsibility, social manners, social etiquette, think for yourself, what you see on TV is ENTERTAINMENT NOT REALITY OR TRUTH, don't expect other people to do it for you or think it for you because they aren't you, other people live on this planet so don't be an ass, theres a time and place for everything, and sex is NOT the most important thing, much less the end-all, be-all, super duper awesome thing the lying media and fake TV tells you it is. Some people go their whole lives without sex, and are extremely happy people.
As a teacher, I'd like to add: don't worry too much about your homework, some time to goof off and a good night's sleep are more important.
This week's "really obvious parenting" post, with tips to avoid things that nobody in their right mind would actually do. Stay tuned, Hans will be along in a minute with a recommended reading list of books he hasn't read.
Actually these aren't obvious to a lot of people. It's like some weird "reflex" to just say stuff we heard/were taught, and it's hard to break the cycle.
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The first thing people need to stop teaching to their kids is religion. Your kids aren't born stupid. Your indoctrination turns them into idiots.
Actually, as a kid my parents (I guess they are Christian, although they don't attend church etc), they would take my sister and I to the local Presbyterian church, until we were 8 & 11, then said we could choose if we wished to keep going. We didn't. But it meant that I got perspective on religion, and kept me from being judgemental of those who choose religion; I could see the sense of community and positivity that came from that local church. It also opened my mind just enough to take philosophy of religion at uni, which has given me a better understanding of religions of which I was ignorant. Summary: I'm agnostic more than atheist, and I respect other people's religious choices. I don't accept the misuse of religion to excuse mistreatment however. All religions share common threads and similar tales within them, and love and tolerance are meant to be core aspects of most religion.
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I do notice that this new generation has got less respect for anything and anyone than before, and shy away from responsibilities. It's always someone else's fault. I AM generalizing, but this is what I am witnessing around me. And with my own children!
if you do things worthy of respect you will get it gen z here
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oh god ok im thinking of starting a new place contry underwater so i dont have my children learn these lies
As a nursery school teacher I want to add a lie, we always tell parents: that they are the 'experts' for their own child. No. The 'Expert' for your child is your child. They know, what is best for them. They might have difficulties voicing it, but it is our job to help them translate. Sure, kids love to do risky things, but not because they don't know what is good for them, but because they don't know much about the world yet. If a kid tells you, that they want to jump down the Niagara falls, what they are telling you probably is: 'I want to explore', 'I want to be somewhere high up and see the world from a new perspective' 'Or I want to go to the water'. They tell you, which learning experiences at that moment would benefit their development. We then have to translate it into something safe. ('Maybe we should jump from the tower in the local swimming pool first?')
"They know what is the best for them". If would depend on my kids 5 and 3 they would watch cartoons all day long and eat only pasta Bolognese and pizza. I don't know how to translate this into something "useful /healthy"
Load More Replies... I have one...Telling kids that being part of the lgbtq+ is bad or you shouldn't be an allie.. this in my opinion is dumb because kids are young and are still trying to find themselfs I'm non-binary who grew up in a lgbtq+phobic household and when I then figured out myself I got really scared and upset because I thought if I told my family they would get pissed ( which they did) which led me into deppression. also saying kids wont understand lgbtq+ and are doing for a trend please kids are saying they n word for no reason and cussing ,starting good protests. please kids know things about the world and if a kid is lgbtq+ you might not agree I cant force you too but please respect it.
Also Cischet people can be apart of the LGBTQ+ Straight Asexuals and Aromantics.
Load More Replies... Something we need to tell children and adults is that parents are not perfect, they are very imperfect - but as human beings they are striving to work on that. Ideally they have improved on how their parents raised them and their children will do more so if they have children. I have generational trauma that my father survived, while he did not visit it on us there were other things (his trauma leaking out making him kind of weird), I know I will do the same but we acknowledge it in our family. There is something I will unknowingly pass on, while I can't stop that I can admit that it's probably there and make room for more healing.
Children should be free from religion. I never understood how some parents could dictate their children what to believe.
Reminds me of "Religion is like a penis. It's ok to have it. It's even ok to be proud of it. But it's NOT ok to talk about it all the time. AND IT'S DEFINITELY NOT OK TO SHOVE IT DOWN OUR CHILDREN'S THROATS "
Load More Replies... is it just me or is this server getting more and more f****d up every day? replies appearing under wrong comments, comments disappearing randomly when clicked on "view more comments/replies", upvoting and downvoting doesn't work at all...
Yes! Comments are wrong, the downvoted ones are at the top....I'm glad it's not just me!
Load More Replies... One thing I would like to add: yes, teach your child to entertain themselves, but also spend time with them. My mom was SOOO pleased I left her alone (happily) while she worked on her master's. However, I remeber feeling sad at times because she was too busy for me to show her my puzzle, or whatever. Now, I am struggling to figure out how to entertain myself, and when I ask my mom (who has nothing to do but sit and worry all day) to play a bored game with me, or something time consuming, or even to just let me read a fiction book out loud to her, she almost always refuses...and I feel she has no interesting in doing something together. In fact, just 5 years ago, a request to do something with her was usually answered with "let's take a nap". I have literally napped ONCE since I was younger than 3.
Stop telling them that Covid is a cold and that face masks will kill them.
the one thing parents must not teach their children is that illnesses are bad and are things you can use as slang. For example, where I live, all kids (mostly 8 year old boys) love to use the word schizophrenic as an insult. THIS IS NOT OK. WHY? And mental illnesses are also considered funny and stupid. this is not okay and it needs to stop. And no, I am not sexist. It's just the fact that boys here are taught that it's okay to make fun of people. And they are also really pressured by society to be "cool" and use these words. Just so you know, most don't even know what the word means.
My parents told me to stop saying ‘I don’t know’ and shrugging because it’s not the ‘right’ answer. They told me I was being too moody and blamed it on my, not my hormones. I am becoming a teenager now, and everyone blames it on me. It’s not like I can stop growing up. Another thing would be that my parents would punish me, I’d ask what I did wrong and they’d give me some stupid excuse like ‘because I said so’ or ‘I’m the parent’. This even happened with my friends, when I was in grade 1 or 2. They said they could tell me what to do because they were older than me. And one more thing: my parents force me to socialise with people I don’t know. Like, my parents’ friends and their kids. I never knew them but I was forced to say hello, greet myself and play with them. Once, I was going for a walk, and my brother and I went ahead of my parents, there was a lady, a man and two children. Then, the lady said hello to us. We didn’t know if she was a stranger or a friend.
We make it now seem like it's bad to be weird. my parents have always made sure i embrace my inner weird, and Im thankful for that.
I'm shocked that "Because I said so" wasn't on the list, much less #1 on the list!! ............ And I think it's what is NOT being taught to kids anymore = self reliance, honesty, compassion, manners, etiquette, social responsibility, social manners, social etiquette, think for yourself, what you see on TV is ENTERTAINMENT NOT REALITY OR TRUTH, don't expect other people to do it for you or think it for you because they aren't you, other people live on this planet so don't be an ass, theres a time and place for everything, and sex is NOT the most important thing, much less the end-all, be-all, super duper awesome thing the lying media and fake TV tells you it is. Some people go their whole lives without sex, and are extremely happy people.
As a teacher, I'd like to add: don't worry too much about your homework, some time to goof off and a good night's sleep are more important.
This week's "really obvious parenting" post, with tips to avoid things that nobody in their right mind would actually do. Stay tuned, Hans will be along in a minute with a recommended reading list of books he hasn't read.
Actually these aren't obvious to a lot of people. It's like some weird "reflex" to just say stuff we heard/were taught, and it's hard to break the cycle.
Load More Replies... The first thing people need to stop teaching to their kids is religion. Your kids aren't born stupid. Your indoctrination turns them into idiots.
Actually, as a kid my parents (I guess they are Christian, although they don't attend church etc), they would take my sister and I to the local Presbyterian church, until we were 8 & 11, then said we could choose if we wished to keep going. We didn't. But it meant that I got perspective on religion, and kept me from being judgemental of those who choose religion; I could see the sense of community and positivity that came from that local church. It also opened my mind just enough to take philosophy of religion at uni, which has given me a better understanding of religions of which I was ignorant. Summary: I'm agnostic more than atheist, and I respect other people's religious choices. I don't accept the misuse of religion to excuse mistreatment however. All religions share common threads and similar tales within them, and love and tolerance are meant to be core aspects of most religion.
Load More Replies... I do notice that this new generation has got less respect for anything and anyone than before, and shy away from responsibilities. It's always someone else's fault. I AM generalizing, but this is what I am witnessing around me. And with my own children!
if you do things worthy of respect you will get it gen z here
Load More Replies... oh god ok im thinking of starting a new place contry underwater so i dont have my children learn these lies
