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

To: Lane3 who wrote (20673)	8/6/2001 7:45:49 AM
From: Neocon	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 82486

There is no decent alternative, indeed. Being in the right is often over- rated, since one has to take into account the over- all relationship and the consequences of insisting upon one's right. The child should have a robust spirit and a sense of responsibility, not be infantilized until legally unleashed on the world. But further, one should strive to be the sort of parent one can turn to, confide in, and trust, not the sort whom one humors and deceives..........

To: Lane3 who wrote (20673)	8/6/2001 2:00:33 PM
From: The Philosopher	Read Replies (2) \| Respond to of 82486

Nobody has argued against that. But at the same time, we have to make sure that the decision making we let them make is appropriate to the stage of their brain development. It's like teaching a ten year old to throw a curve ball -- their arm muscles and tendons aren't properly developed for it, so if you do try to teach it to them first then can't do it and second they will do permanent damage to their arm. Similarly, if you give to young people decision making power that they aren't physically capable of handling, you do long term damage both to them and society. We do it anyhow, in some cases, particularly giving driving licenses to 15 and 16 year olds. If our driving laws were scientifically based, we wouldn't give licenses to kids that young. The statistics bear this out; it's not just inexperience, but it's mental ability. (As I understand it, drivers who get their licenses at 21 and above have significantly lower accident rates than those who get them at 16 who have level of driving training and experience.) It's not enough to say we should train our children in decision making. It's necessary to understand where their minds are (quite literally) and only train them in the levels and kinds of decision making they can physically handle. Otherwise, we may do them more damage than if we gave them no decision making training at all.