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Politics : Sharks in the Septic Tank -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: The Philosopher who wrote (20636)	8/5/2001 12:44:49 AM
From: Dayuhan	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 82486

I wish you would get it through your head that the neurological aspects of choice and decision making have nothing whatsoever to do with the practical realities that I am talking about. Real world situations: A teenaged girl is going out with her boyfriend. They are supposed to be going to the movies. The boyfriend wants to skip the movie and head for the local lovers lane. A teenaged boy has some money that he's earned. His friends have set up a pretext to go into the city, they plan to head straight for a house of ill repute. They want him to come along. Now you can argue until you are blue in the face over whether these are choices or decisions. You can cite any number of neurologists proclaiming that their brains are not ready to do whatever it is we say they are doing. But that doesn't change the simple truth that in either case, what happens next is purely and completely up to the teenager in question. Of course they know what their parents think. They know what the churches say, and what the teachers say. But what they actually do is up to them, whatever we call it and whatever we think of their state of readiness. In most cases, they will resolve the question and determine their course of action in isolation, with none to consult but themselves. A 10 year old is out running around on rollerblades with a group of friends, someone suggests that they head down the hill, on a busy street. A 12 year old and his friends are thinking about riding their bikes down a steep and potentially dangerous trail. A 15 year old is offered the chance to ride on the back of a motorcycle driven by an 18 year old. A 17 year old has an opportunity to have sex. Call these choices, call these decisions, call them any damned thing you like. In every case, regardless of what we call it, the individual involved has to resolve a question that has serious implications for the individual's personal safety. In most of these cases the matter will be resolved in isolation. In every case the outcome of the resolution will be strongly influenced by the preparation that parents have provided. Whether we like it or not, and no matter what we learn from brain research, every child is faced with situations where they have to independently resolve questions with serious implications for them and likely for others as well. There is nothing we can do to change this. We all know this; that's why we teach our children how to handle these situations. All this is nothing new; children have been facing these situations ever since little Ug and little Og crept out back of the cave and debated whether or not to run down to the water hole, against Mom's instructions and braving the risk of saber-tooth tigers, and have a swim. Surely you aren't suggesting that it is pointless to teach decision-making skills to children until their brains are fully matured. For that matter, what are you suggesting? Has your acquaintance with brain research given you something constructive to propose, or are you simply trying to pick holes in everyone else's ideas?