When did you make your first choice? Do you remember? I certainly do not, but this was a question put to me by a seven-year-old doing their homework, a task designed, I think, to help them learn and understand themselves. As adults we know our lives are full of choices and that consequences arise as a result; admittedly, egg custard or chocolate eclair is not quite as earth-shattering as send in the troops or continue the peace talks.
As grown-ups we shoulder much of that responsibility for the children in our care but do we also have the responsibility to teach them how to make choices themselves, balance options, make a decision and then be prepared to accept the result? And when does parental control become controlling?
Should we presume choice-making, along with cutlery manipulation, basic good manners and politeness are absorbed osmotically as little humans grow, or should it be taught? Learning gradually so that more serious choices can be made without confrontational battlegrounds sprouting like weeds amongst daily family life.
I read (somewhere philosophical) that 'because (hu)man is free, he is responsible for everything he does. Freedom condemns us to make choices.'
A serious thought, worthy of contemplation.
Sartre says we must never disclaim responsibility for our actions.
(Is philosophy taught on the national curriculum?)
So there are always choices, starting perhaps in the highchair, with 'rusk or apple?'
Not life-and-death, but the beginning of a learning process.
Monday 3 June 2013
Sunday 2 June 2013
Horizons...
Sun shining, light breeze from the sea, ideal weather for a morning stroll along the front. Lots of others thought so, too, including cyclists.
The prom is lumpy with repairs, assorted surfaces which break down at different rates. The road has had recent attention and is quite smooth, so why do the bikers choose to cycle on the prom? (and without an audible warning device).
Was it FCS*?
Is it that on the road they feel vulnerable, threatened, whereas on the pavement they are the hunter, the threat.
Power.
Or am I being cynical?
* Food-chain syndrome.
The prom is lumpy with repairs, assorted surfaces which break down at different rates. The road has had recent attention and is quite smooth, so why do the bikers choose to cycle on the prom? (and without an audible warning device).
Was it FCS*?
Is it that on the road they feel vulnerable, threatened, whereas on the pavement they are the hunter, the threat.
Power.
Or am I being cynical?
* Food-chain syndrome.
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