What Do Children Think?
I am often asked the question, “What do children think? Therefore I am looking to share their views, and hope that this post will only be the beginning of inspirational and thought provoking words from children.
As they say, ‘From the mouths of babes!’:
When asked, “What would you say if I told you their where kids your age that had to work?”, Andrew, aged 5 , said: “That’s silly!” I asked him, “Why is that silly?”, “Because kids are supposed to play, and not work until your old.” I agree with Andrew on this one.
This question intrigued the 5 year old, Andrew, a great deal and he began to ask me lots of questions in return. I must admit I figured the topic would quickly die out, however to my surprise it was a difficult one to end. Of course the young boy wanted to know why children would have to work, and what kind of work they would have to do, as he was very dismayed at the fact that children somewhere in the world had to work. Try explaining to a 5 year old that a child his own their may have to work making things, work in a field, or on the street selling things…nothing you can say makes any sense to them. Of course the idea of a child makes no sense to a child, for children should not be working. As Andrew told me, a child should go to school, play and be loved by their Mommy and Daddy. To Andrew the only people that work are Mommy’s and Daddy’s, and their is no reason for why a child should work.
“What countries do children have to work?
Because I don’t want to go there!”
I asked Andrew what he thought we should do for the children that did have to work, and he told me we should make their Mommy and Daddy let them play. I was told that it was not just “silly”, but “mean” to make children work.
September 26th, 2007 at 12:00 am
[…] While at the event I engaged in a lively conversation with a number of proactive teachers, who are working tirelessly to ensure their students truly receive a global education. The teachers ranged from elementary to high school teachers. All of the teachers I spoke with had unique approaches to teaching about the global world, but one thing stood out to me…it wasn’t the norm. Well of course I know times have changed a great deal since my schoolgirl days, however it made me question was there students intrigue in issues such as child soldiers, human trafficking, global development, international politics, etc., any different than other students across America, or across the globe. The truth is they are no different than another child or adolescent, but they are being given the information in which to make their own informed decisions as to the key topics which are truly shaping there futures. Therefore as I mentioned in my previous post, What Do Children Think?, I am working to include the voices of children of all ages into this blog, and I hope to set this as a weekly feature in the near future. Please stay tuned, and leave me your comments or suggestions as to how you would like to see a feature with children’s views develop. […]