So this article doesn't speak directly to homeschooling, but I think you'll clearly see how homeschooling can combat this problem. It reminds me of an episode of Bones. Booth spends the episode telling Bones how teens and college students (more specifically, Frat guys) have to do stupid, risky things so their frontal lobe will grow. By the end of the episode, Bones is concerned because she has never done anything stupid or risky. Booth, being the good friend he is, suggests they do a dine-and-dash at the restaurant where they are getting drinks. Of course, being morally upstanding, he throws some cash on the table as they frantically run out. lol. He made the same point though: that teens must be allowed to take risks if they are ever to grow. http://www.newsweek.com/blogs/nurtu...teenagers-are-growing-up-so-slowly-today.html
"We give them only a handful of ways in which they can meaningfully demonstrate their competencies." -this is being countered by work placement in our province. However I think there aren't enough actual companies, organizations, businesses and so on signing up to take volunteer high school students to give them a broad enough base. Further outside of the job placement aside from sticking kids into clubs there aren't enough outlets for them to get involved, at least in our community. Oh yes this is very true. And then education looses meaning. Even the elective subjects aren't broad enough to engage all students. You can choose, art, auto shop, blueprint reading or music. Uh what about technological fields of interest, medical fields of interest, and so on. If high school is meant to prepare teenagers for college or university it is failing at that. It isn't giving a big enough picture of all the occupational choices available to students. Change is definitely in order and in the meantime I am going to homeschool. So my kids can see the wide variety of occupations and interests the world has to offer them. Thx for sharing this excellent article Amie
I think volunteer work is a great way to do that, as is entrepreneurialship . My ds is "works" (unpaid, it is considered part of his black belt training) 5-7 hours a week at his doojan, in addition to his classes. He is an assistant instructor - I drop him off for 2-3 hours, and pick him up later. He has also decided to learn some computer programming skills, and has learned to take most of his current computer games and modify them into new games others can play. While I don't think kids need to do "dangerous" or "illegal" things per se - they do need to opportunity to show what they CAN do. Risky (on a moderate level, based on age), I think is ok, as I let my son (and now his younger sister) do full contact sparring in TKD on a regular basis - and if they want to build a ramp with dirt and boards and try to jump it, hey, if they have a helmet on, give it a try. See if the ramp you built works. What gets me is the illegal aspect. If you give kids real opportunities to show what they can do, they are less likely to be picked up by the cops for a "dine and dash" or vandalism. Just IMHO.
The article wasn't saying about the illegal stuff. Actually, it agreed with your last statement here. I don't advocate illegal 'risks' or stupid risks, either. I was just reminded of that episode of Bones.
I'm sorry - I wasn't clear about that - it was more a response to the Bones tv show reference! *oops!* And I agree with the article - it's just that so often, kids think or are told by the media, that the way to "grow up" or "become a man/woman" is to do something illegal. Drives me nuts. The article also reminds me of how, in the 1700-1800s kids used to go to school from age 8-16, then start college! Before and after that, they worked! Maybe they were onto something there . . .
Oh.. I gottcha. lol. I'm blessed to be surrounded by so many tradesmen who are able to take on an apprentice. I fully expect my children to study under one or more of these masters when they are teens. I want them to know what it means to work. I mean, really work. And to create with their hands. Even if they don't go on to work in those fields, it will make them better people.
My hubby is hoping to let the kids apprentice with him as they get older - my ds should be able to start in the next year or so! It is a great opportunity!
Yes..risk is important. I remember getting fussed at by a lady at work for letting my dd go to the park by herself. (1st grade) I could see the park from the house, and very low almost no crime neighborhood. (of course there is still a risk) Her comment was...well someone could pull up in a van and grab her and she couldn't do anything. Well, someone could pull up in a van and grab ME and I wouldn't be able to do anything...so should I not go anywhere either? My other point was one day some teens showed up at the park and made her nervous and she CAME HOME. She noticed a situation and responded in an appropriate way. There ya go. (of course if anything happened to my children while they were doing something risky I would never forgive myself...but that goes with the territory.)
That reminds me of my MIL. She gets really bent out of shape when I don't yell at the boys for climbing on the couch, for example. She says, "what if they fall off?" To which I reply, "Well, then they'll learn not to do it again, won't they?"
We live on a farm with about 100 acres of empty land behind us. People are shocked at what I let my kids do, even my smaller ones. They climb run and play so hard outside....yes, there are snakes, ticks, and holes to fall in, but as far as the snakes, well we have dogs that run with the kids, and they are generally loud enough that I don't worry about that. ANd we do a tick check every day. There are so many things that "could" happen, but my kids are really getting a sense for what is safe, what is not and what is just entirely stupid. I want them to have that sense developed...and learn to trust their gut. We let our kids handle our guns with supervision and instruction and they know they will be in MAJOR trouble if they ever mess with them on their own. They know that a gun is not a toy and it is for real. They've been exposed to dead things (chickens and cows) and know that a gun REALLY kills stuff. My kids know how to work. They know that if they don't do their chores our animals will suffer. They've seen how thirsty an animal gets in the summer if someone drops the ball and forgets to care for it. And they feel horrible when that happens. They understand that we have to monitor our cows feed, because the one time we messed up one of our cows bloated and died! There are real world consequences here on our farm for not following through with what you are supposed to do. And people are so amazed at how level headed and responsible my kids are.... I wonder how you develop that level of responsibility when you live in a subdivision and the most you ask of your child is that they empty the trash? I'm just not sure....perhaps that is why kids are in perpetual adolesence from age 10-25. I suppose as a parent in that situation to develop that responsibility, you;d really have to work at it, since society at large is not designed to help you develop it.
Not only is society not designed to help you, it works against you every chance it gets. People think I'm a terrible parent for expecting my children to do chores or even clean their room. I hear, "They should be allowed to just be kids" over and over and over. I'm not a slave driver: My kids still spend quite a lot of time playing and being kids, but I want them to eventually NOT be kids. And the only way to do that is to teach them to grow up.
Kids should be kids and have fun and explore the world....but childhood ends....one can still have fun and explore new ventures... I moved out at 18 with my boyfriend (now hubby) and other friends. I married at 20. From the moment I moved out I never thought myself a kid any longer. I always felt young and still do but saying that 26 y/o "kid" is too young to marry/go out into the world....I laugh! lol The number of times I hear people gasp because I married at 20 (17y ago next week) oh but you were so young. I am listening to the Diana GAbaldon series right now and one of the characters is a 14y/o boy who lives on his own, hunts and has survived on his own for several years....these books take place in the 18th C where a boy is a man at 14 and boys as young as 8 or 10 are left in charge of the household if the men are sent to war.
