Is It Any Wonder
April 22, 2008
[Emphasis mine] There is a generational digital divide which means that parents do not necessarily feel equipped to help their children in this space – which can lead to fear and a sense of helplessness. This can be compounded by a risk-averse culture where we are inclined to keep our children ‘indoors’ despite their developmental needs to socialise and take risks. #
Can you guess what this quote is about?
America is a place where failure is not an option. If you mess up, you’d better sweep it under the rug and hope nobody goes digging. It’s a culture that bails out once successful companies (airlines, Amtrak) and not-so-bright people (ARM crisis) because its adults are afraid.
Anyway, the quote is from a report on children and the internet and video games. If people feel helpless and afraid of guiding their children through the oh-so-dangerous world of the internets, how are they going to teach their children to take measured risks in real life?
Eventually nobody will go anywhere or do anything because, well, something could happen! Which is kind of the whole damn point of living.
April 22, 2008 at 3:23 pm
Failure is a form of change. We fear change.
April 22, 2008 at 9:17 pm
As a parent, and I guess a rather liberal parent, I would encourage kids TO take chances!! See the world, be impulsive, fall in love. If there are things you want to do, do them and damn the odds, damn the risk. I have always felt that if you were to die doing what you love, then you have truly lived!
I knew an old family practice doc many years ago. He was old when I first met him and over the course of the years I was in his presence, he tried to retire multiple times. A few days later, he would once again be wandering the hall of the hospital. When asked about his decision, his standard answer was, “one day they will find me, stiff and cold in some far corner, but I will have died doing what I love most”. And he was so old-school. Most of his career he still made house calls!
As parents, we all want to see our children happy and well, but not at the risk of their development. Not at the risk of their futures. I for one want them to experience life and damn the torpedoes!!
And that’s all I have to say on that subject!