DOWN TIME FOR CITY KIDS
I'm reading a book called "Reclaiming Childhood," by William Crain, which argues that our achievement-oriented society has robbed kids of their childhood. We pave over nature, quickly correct our children's mistakes, and employ rigorous standards for testing and grade promotion. Instead, we ought to give our kids time and space to explore, to dance, to learn through trial and error. A needed word, I believe, in a society that has sold its soul for tomorrow without taking the time to enjoy today.
I wonder, though, how applicable such insights are to the city kids I work with and live around. Crain does argue that they, more so than suburban and rural kids who may have easier access to nature, need to make the time to get out into wide open spaces and undeveloped settings, lest they lose the opportunity to have their bodies and souls warmed by the beauty and simplicity of nature. But he talks a lot of schools with too much focus on math and science, of parents packing their children's schedules with activities and fretting about if they're doing enough to get them ready for Harvard and Stanford. I wonder if city kids need more of this, not less.
To be sure, I too think our country's public education system is outmoded and in need of a drastic rehaul. But I believe the hyper-Montessori approach to schooling kids (there are no wrong answers, we let kids do what they want to do and not what we think they should do, schedules are determined by student interests and not by instructional sections) goes too far. Yes, let kids explore: let them not be afraid to fail, give them avenues to pursue interests, allow them to cherish the present rather than always preparing them for the future. City kids need this; but they also need structured environments, practical instruction, and scientific knowledge. We need to give them time and space to cherish their childhoods, but we do a disservice to them if we do not adequately prepare them with skills and training for future competitiveness.
Maybe I too am guilty of being too achievement-oriented. But I must say I do not totally agree that Crain's book speaks adequately to the present and future needs of the city kids I work with and live around. I do not think enjoying nature and letting kids be kids is a luxury that only the rich have room for; poor city kids deserve to have schools, neighborhoods, and parents that make such things available to them. But to swing to the other end of the pendulum, from seeing childhood as preparation for adulthood to allowing childhood to simply be the living out of childish wonder and exploration, is a dangerous sacrifice of future competitiveness by a group that can ill afford such a sacrifice.
I'm reading a book called "Reclaiming Childhood," by William Crain, which argues that our achievement-oriented society has robbed kids of their childhood. We pave over nature, quickly correct our children's mistakes, and employ rigorous standards for testing and grade promotion. Instead, we ought to give our kids time and space to explore, to dance, to learn through trial and error. A needed word, I believe, in a society that has sold its soul for tomorrow without taking the time to enjoy today.
I wonder, though, how applicable such insights are to the city kids I work with and live around. Crain does argue that they, more so than suburban and rural kids who may have easier access to nature, need to make the time to get out into wide open spaces and undeveloped settings, lest they lose the opportunity to have their bodies and souls warmed by the beauty and simplicity of nature. But he talks a lot of schools with too much focus on math and science, of parents packing their children's schedules with activities and fretting about if they're doing enough to get them ready for Harvard and Stanford. I wonder if city kids need more of this, not less.
To be sure, I too think our country's public education system is outmoded and in need of a drastic rehaul. But I believe the hyper-Montessori approach to schooling kids (there are no wrong answers, we let kids do what they want to do and not what we think they should do, schedules are determined by student interests and not by instructional sections) goes too far. Yes, let kids explore: let them not be afraid to fail, give them avenues to pursue interests, allow them to cherish the present rather than always preparing them for the future. City kids need this; but they also need structured environments, practical instruction, and scientific knowledge. We need to give them time and space to cherish their childhoods, but we do a disservice to them if we do not adequately prepare them with skills and training for future competitiveness.
Maybe I too am guilty of being too achievement-oriented. But I must say I do not totally agree that Crain's book speaks adequately to the present and future needs of the city kids I work with and live around. I do not think enjoying nature and letting kids be kids is a luxury that only the rich have room for; poor city kids deserve to have schools, neighborhoods, and parents that make such things available to them. But to swing to the other end of the pendulum, from seeing childhood as preparation for adulthood to allowing childhood to simply be the living out of childish wonder and exploration, is a dangerous sacrifice of future competitiveness by a group that can ill afford such a sacrifice.
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