Raising a critical thinker in a gullible country

[cleanhippie]

Raising a child is a harrowing task at times. Granted, a large part of it the child does himself, and it is gratifying to watch early ideas and understandings coalesce into increasingly more complex and holistic inspirations about the natural, cultural, and social world in which we live from day-to-day.

But each day, I also watch my four-year-old son struggle with trying to understand certain cultural memes, that while well meaning, end up oversimplifying the world and imposing values upon us in a way that doesn’t encourage analysis of those very values. One of the greatest triumphs I have, as a parent, is when my son asks me a question to clarify these themes, such as he did just this last week:

“Mommy, why doesn’t that tyrannosaurus baby just eat the pteranodons?” He asks this while watching Dinosaur Train, an excellent PBS Kids series he’s been enamored with since it finally became freely available in Great Falls a few months ago.

How do I answer? On the one hand, I am thrilled that he is recognizing the improbability of the plot of the show, in which a pteranodon couple (monogamous, of course) have four eggs, three of which hatch into baby pteranodons, and one of which, in cuckoo-like form, hatches into a tyrannosaurus but is immediately welcomed into the flying family into which he has hatched. My son has recognized that a predator has entered the nest, but is confused as to why everyone is so happy and accepting. Enter here the cultural meme that children’s programming emphasizes at every point (even “science-heavy” shows such as are on PBS Kids): diversity is important and to be respected at all levels. Even to such an extent that a tyrannosaurus, biologically a predator, can be adopted by pteranodons and will remain part of the family, just so long as his genetic colors don’t show through.

--snip--

In the end, I have to trust in my own ability to provide my son, not with necessarily a wealth of information and facts, but instead with the ability to critically evaluate situations and decide for himself whether or not the information he is being told is possibly credible. I allow him to explore, to make his own choices, and try to be there to bandage him up and explain why those choices were perhaps not right. I encourage him to question. I encourage him to see long-reaching consequences of his actions and the actions of others. And constantly, I try to find examples that will help him to practice these skills.

http://parentingbeyondbelief.com/parents/?p=134

[trotsky]

1. I have tried to keep this at the forefront of my parenting.

Especially with the role of schools having been transformed into little more than fact indoctrinators. Far more important is giving a child the tools to analyze claims and judge their merits.

So many of our problems today result from people being unable to recognize faulty claims. Supply-side economics, the Iraq War, "SS is a ponzi scheme," the list goes on and on.

[cleanhippie]

4. My wife is a pubic school teacher, and we are considering a homeschool/public school combo.

1st-3rd grade in public school, to get basic skills and socialization and then 4th and 5th grade with a secular homeschool group, including full-time travel around the US to learn American History where history actually took place. With any luck, she will have those critical thinking skills mastered, and can go back to public school (if she wants to) for Jr and Sr High school.

Its a tentative plan, anyway.

[rrneck]

2. Good stuff.

Literature, like the rest of the arts, helps us to see things from the perspective of others. It helps people understand each other. But using the prerogatives of a fabrication to compel obedience always ends in tragedy.

Religion, at its best, can offer acceptance of our most dangerous enemies and turn them into allies. Unfortunately it is too often used to profit from petty tribalism and fear of others we are not encouraged to understand.

Edit for damn phone.

[SheilaT]

3. Keep in mind that he's only four,

and while he's capable of quite a bit, he's not yet fully able to think a lot of things through critically.

Don't hesitate to tell him that it's just a TV show, and that they make up things.

Limit his TV watching, even of the "good" shows and you won't go wrong.

I was pretty overbearing in how much I limited what my sons could watch when they were growing up. In the end it paid off. Oh, and don't ever, ever, install a TV in his room. We had one and only one TV in our house, which meant I was always there when they were watching. We also all compromised about what to watch, and the idea of sharing or taking turns was instilled from the very beginning.

[cleanhippie]

5. Great recommendations.

And just FYI, the 4 year old in the article is not my child, but the authors child.

[SheilaT]

6. Oops.

Thanks for the correction.

[saras]

7. It's mass media. They lie. That's what they do. He should know this before reading "the news"

[Silent3]

8. Somewhere around age 12 he'll probably pass through a phase...

...where he's rooting for the tyrannosaurus baby to eat the pteranodons. :)

[NMMNG]

9. One of the best early lessons my mother taught me

was about advertisers and the corporations they peddle for. I had watched a McDonalds ad and used it to try to convince her to take me there. "Mom, they do it all for you", I said. "No, they do it all for their profits" she replied. As young as I was at the time I got it, and it's stuck with me ever since.