Did you turn out okay? Would it be an improvement if the next generation behaved more like your generation?
As long as I remember, older people have been criticizing younger generations. “They are immoral.” “They are lazy.” “They are undisciplined.” “They feel entitled.” Whatever the complaint may be.
Maybe all those complaints are accurate, or maybe older people are just cranky. All I know is that it is the older generation who raised the younger generation. Maybe the father bears some blame for the sins of the sons?
Cultures are developed over many generations. The trials and errors in child rearing of our ancient ancestors were passed down through all those generations as wisdom. Throughout most of history and most of the world, families have stayed close to one another, communities have worked closely together. Mothers, older sisters, and neighbors taught new mothers how to care for their children. Sons took on the trades of their fathers. Communities shared the wisdom that had been passed on through countless generations before them.
Not so in the modern world, where children move away from their parents. They develop their own theories on how to raise the next generation. They read books that quote all the studies done by the greatest minds on child rearing. This is real science, not superstitious rubbish and “inherited wisdom.” No sir, we’ve thought through this whole child rearing thing, and we’ve got our own ideas on how to do it. And we’ve got science on our side.
Well, theories are good. But I’ve watched more of my water-tight theories sink than I’ve seen float. And science is good. But what is science other than a controlled set of trials and errors? Perhaps hundreds of generations of trials and errors actually have something over a couple of modern controlled studies.
The modern world is the outcome of our parents theories on child rearing, and modern children are the experiment for our theories. If you want the next generation to turn out the way you did, you should raise the next generation the same way your parents raised you.
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