It's like we can buy it: happiness for our children. Since so many of them are used in marketing, those happy faces, those precious nano-moments, it starts to seem like childhood should be happy. Perpetual joy, complete acceptance, and instant gratification relentlessly impress upon our collective subconcious a neo-idealism for kids. Norman Rockwell's got nothin' on Disney.
I had to work for my allowance, and my mother before me may not have had one at all. My grandmother may have had an allowance, but it was to be used to buy the family groceries. Anne's friends, however, talk about dollar bills left by the tooth fairy. Families who struggle to put food on the table still somehow manage to put nintendos and other gaming devices in the hands of their children. Thanks to the media, we begin to imagine that our children should be happy. All the time. We start believing this neo-idealism of childhood because we see images of it, however contrived, presistantly in the media.
They should do chores, yes, and all the while be happy about it. They should learn at school, and while they learn, feel utter joy and security at all times. Our precious children should build immunities, somehow, magically without the pain and suffering that comes with the common cold.
Well, I have news for this neo-idealistic childhood perception: Picking up after the dog is the pits, and I want my child to know it sooner rather than later so she'll lay off asking for another pet. Learning is inherantly emotionally risky behavior, and the sooner my students realize there's something to be gained by taking risks, the more open their minds will be. Getting sick feels horrible, and learning to lay off sugar and dairy when you have a cold makes healing happen more quickly, a claim that still eludes a myriad of over-the-counter drugs.
The sooner we awake from the hypnotic images of a neo-idealistic youth, the better we'll serve our children who will some day face challenges: unrequited love, lost jobs, theft, illness, and who knows what else? Let's get real about teaching our children that they too can overcome challenges, by letting them experience some.
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