Have you faced massive backlash because you choose to believe what you were raised to believe? Are you conflicted with the constant need to stifle your instinctual reaction to a bizarre ideology that is not aligning with your values?
I started school in Canada when I was 10 years old. Before then, I attended the British School in Aramco, Saudi Arabia. I was raised in Egypt and Saudi before I immigrated with my father and mother to Canada.
I attended school in Egypt and Saudi Arabia and I can tell you that when I came here I was confounded by how little they expect from children in Canada. I was studying fractions and decimals in grade two abroad. I was writing stories and researching autobiographies at the age of 8 and I was leagues ahead of the crowd when I commenced my formal education in Scarborough, Ontario.
I was assumed to be ESL so I was quickly placed in a class where I was learning "Apple" and "Banana". All the while, I refused to talk to my teachers so they don't find out that I am fluent in English and also have a British accent. My plans were all utterly squashed when my mother had her first teacher-parent meeting. She was asking what ESL stands for and my poor teacher said, "English as a second language". My mom paused and then politely asked, "What is my child's first language?". The teacher was surprised to learn that even though I immigrated from a middle-eastern country, I was impeccably educated and well spoken in English and French, as well as Arabic. Anyways, fast forward to grade 9 and I was fast-tracked on the gifted stream. Regardless of what I was learning, I was bored. I learned things too fast. I felt like I was in a coma of understated, disengaging, unnecessary information that I attained very quickly, and I felt trapped.
My parents raised me as a Christian. I attended Catholic schools. We were taught at an early age that everyone is loved and created by God. We shouldn't change who we are to be part of a modern trend or style.
I was also taught to listen to ideologies and decide whether they align with me or not. I debated in university with friends about existential matters and real issues happening across the globe. I always sought to understand and learn more about topics and ideas when they were unfamiliar to me. Learning new things excite me. In order to continue being a good teacher, I learned that you can never stop learning!
In recent years, I have noticed an unusual shift in the conversations we are asked to have with our children. About deaths, pandemics, shutdowns, wars, racial movements and sexual orientation and more. I am shocked that an interview of a child psychologist aired on Newsweek that suggested we need to ask a baby's consent before changing the diaper.
Listen, I am all for free thought and honouring childhood genius and allowing them to be independent. I even spoke to my toddlers and taught them consent but this was bizarre for me to absorb. My background is in psychology and I am of the thought that having some conversations too early with some children can have an adverse effect on their psychological development.
We do not fully develop our executive functioning skills until the age of 25. At that age, we are capable of fair judgement and responsible decision-making. Children at the ages of 4 and 5 should be flooded with questions about how rainbows occur and why is 1 pm in Canada 10 pm in Dubai? Elementary students should be encouraged to love everyone without conditions and without judgement. They should also learn that they are perfect the way they are. They should be empowered to experiment, explore and invent. They should be taught that knowledge is power and that there is no need for fear and hopelessness. They hold the key to the future in their very palms and can effect change moving forward.
Raising children in an environment of fear causes anger and instability. Schools should be promoting an agenda of love, kindness, acceptance of everyone without conditions.
Revolving agendas have been difficult to manage from a parental perspective. Ideologies like Critical Race Theory, Varying Philosophies in Education, as well as, many recent incidences that have compelled schools to teach about ethics and values, moral obligations concepts like White Privilege are unfortunately extremely divisive and difficult for children. How can we achieve unity and love when we are teaching our young generation about our differences and violent past?
I am not against teaching history. It is a crucial part of how we got here but do we have to extend the instruction so far that a student from one racial group starts feeling like a monster?
Children don't choose the race they are born into hence we need to be sensitive when we teach them about world history. Yes slavery and egregious violations against humanity have occurred but again, there is an appropriate time and a level of maturity required to imbibe this information.
We need to be discerning and sensitive. If we want to teach our children about our past so that it does not repeat, then we need to first equip them with the skill of critical thinking. They need to learn that the past does not necessarily represent the future. they should also be equipped with the powerful notion that they can be the change they wish to see in the world. ~ Mahatma Gandhi
SB
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