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Okay, I have a good topic (I think) for debate.
Way back when, let's say Europe...when kids became a certain age, they were sent to live with their uncles, etc... some were squires, ladies in waiting...think king arthur.
Do you think that it would be a good idea to go back to doing this with our current youth? why or why not?
Way back when, let's say Europe...when kids became a certain age, they were sent to live with their uncles, etc... some were squires, ladies in waiting...think king arthur.
That was a very small, maybe 1/100 of 1%, of the moneyed/politically connected class. As tin knocker pointed out there was a lot of intermarriage which provided a steady stream of idiots running those countries. Add in the overarching power of the Catholic church and you can see what happened by studying Spanish, as well as other country's histories closely.
The vast majority of youth were working on the landlord's estate, dawn to dusk, 6 days a week, for a LESS THAN SUBSISTENCE LIVING. And if anyone tried to teach those folks how to read, write or in any way better themselves they would be "outted" as a subversive, a traitor or a witch.
If you take a look at what the Republican party's tax policies over the past 30 years you can see their strong desire to return to a similar system.
That was a very small, maybe 1/100 of 1%, of the moneyed/politically connected class. As tin knocker pointed out there was a lot of intermarriage which provided a steady stream of idiots running those countries. Add in the overarching power of the Catholic church and you can see what happened by studying Spanish, as well as other country's histories closely.
The vast majority of youth were working on the landlord's estate, dawn to dusk, 6 days a week, for a LESS THAN SUBSISTENCE LIVING. And if anyone tried to teach those folks how to read, write or in any way better themselves they would be "outted" as a subversive, a traitor or a witch.
If you take a look at what the Republican party's tax policies over the past 30 years you can see their strong desire to return to a similar system.
When my daughter was a teen, I recognized that she needed to learn how to make her own decisions and live with the consequences of poor ones. As such, we gave her increasingly more leeway in making her own choices. We gave her our opinions, but let her make most of the final decisions as she got older. I wanted her to be independant minded and be able to reason & think her way thru life. In fact, I specifically told her to live her life with respect to all, and live it without regrets as in the end we all have to live with ourselves.
I didn't want her mind controlled like the democrats do (HA! That one was just for you golfgod- just couldn't resist).
Just a few decades ago there was no such thing as a teenager. The concept has proved incredibly destructive, if you ask me. (And I know you didn't.) Older children used to spend all their time around adults, learning how to stop being children and handle adult responsibilities, social behavior, and on and on. By the time they hit 18 they were largely ready to be adults.
Now kids are allowed to separate off from society into an age cohort that appears to spend a great deal of its time bemoaning the fact that nobody understands what they're going through. And now it's getting harder and harder to find a functioning adult in the over-18 crowd. They don't even move out until their 30s in a lot of cases. They still play with toys, for corn sakes. They haven't "put away childish things" as the saying goes and it dramatically affects things like their ability to make sensible purchase decisions and stay married. I think this is a major reason we have this huge spread of 13-year-olds having babies because they think they're ready, and childless 40-year-olds agonizing over whether or not they will ever be ready to have kids. It's as if people were just making wild guesses at how to run their lives. Look at the real-estate bubble for crying out loud!
I ready in a book last night a description of a "highly moral, purposeful, capable woman" -- she was 24, married and already had 2 children. What struck me about it is that these days, most 24-year-olds, even the married ones with children, are seen as kids, not adults. And maybe they're not!
I think the old-fashioned practice of farming kids out to relatives or friends who, for instance, knew a trade that that child has a knack for, is an excellent one.
Bill Cosby had a great baseball line about raising teens and how to discipline them as they got older: "We used to hit for distance but now we hit for average."
Just a few decades ago there was no such thing as a teenager. The concept has proved incredibly destructive, if you ask me. (And I know you didn't.) Older children used to spend all their time around adults, learning how to stop being children and handle adult responsibilities, social behavior, and on and on. By the time they hit 18 they were largely ready to be adults.
Now kids are allowed to separate off from society into an age cohort that appears to spend a great deal of its time bemoaning the fact that nobody understands what they're going through. And now it's getting harder and harder to find a functioning adult in the over-18 crowd. They don't even move out until their 30s in a lot of cases. They still play with toys, for corn sakes. They haven't "put away childish things" as the saying goes and it dramatically affects things like their ability to make sensible purchase decisions and stay married. I think this is a major reason we have this huge spread of 13-year-olds having babies because they think they're ready, and childless 40-year-olds agonizing over whether or not they will ever be ready to have kids. It's as if people were just making wild guesses at how to run their lives. Look at the real-estate bubble for crying out loud!
I ready in a book last night a description of a "highly moral, purposeful, capable woman" -- she was 24, married and already had 2 children. What struck me about it is that these days, most 24-year-olds, even the married ones with children, are seen as kids, not adults. And maybe they're not!
I think the old-fashioned practice of farming kids out to relatives or friends who, for instance, knew a trade that that child has a knack for, is an excellent one.
Just curious, how old are you? People return back home usually at an older age due to the economics of a college education and un-affordable housing. Actually teen pregancy rates have decreased from the 1950s. And guess what? We always have and always will continue to make wild guesses about our lives. This is what makes us human.
good points everyone. I'm not sure I would want to send one of my kids or grandkids to live with strangers and this idea was presented to me by one of my kids. He said that with his understanding of teens being out of control and having no direction that the basic foundations of 'rearing' have been lost. i think his attempt to return to a time where kids are fostered out as a way to help them 'grow up' by an objective party would produce responsible citizens. I don't know whether he was kidding or contemplating using the topic as a hypothesis for a paper, but i don't know. would it help? i don't think all of our youth are out of control and much has to do with upbringing. can't blame the kid if the parent spoils them i suppose but does that warrant taking parenting out of the hands of parents and into someone else's control? but then, isn't that what college does?
Just a few decades ago there was no such thing as a teenager. The concept has proved incredibly destructive, if you ask me. (And I know you didn't.) Older children used to spend all their time around adults, learning how to stop being children and handle adult responsibilities, social behavior, and on and on. By the time they hit 18 they were largely ready to be adults.
Now kids are allowed to separate off from society into an age cohort that appears to spend a great deal of its time bemoaning the fact that nobody understands what they're going through. And now it's getting harder and harder to find a functioning adult in the over-18 crowd. They don't even move out until their 30s in a lot of cases. They still play with toys, for corn sakes. They haven't "put away childish things" as the saying goes and it dramatically affects things like their ability to make sensible purchase decisions and stay married. I think this is a major reason we have this huge spread of 13-year-olds having babies because they think they're ready, and childless 40-year-olds agonizing over whether or not they will ever be ready to have kids. It's as if people were just making wild guesses at how to run their lives. Look at the real-estate bubble for crying out loud!
I ready in a book last night a description of a "highly moral, purposeful, capable woman" -- she was 24, married and already had 2 children. What struck me about it is that these days, most 24-year-olds, even the married ones with children, are seen as kids, not adults. And maybe they're not!
I think the old-fashioned practice of farming kids out to relatives or friends who, for instance, knew a trade that that child has a knack for, is an excellent one.
I agree. Back when I graduated from high school, I don't recall any of my classmates just staying home, or going to college just because that's what everybody did after high school. A lot of them went to work in factories, garages, etc., and got married. Some went to college, but went for a purpose, not for further socialization. Not many of them went to college on their parent's dime either. They applied for everything available, but also worked their way through. We were 18 and for the most part, prepared to face responsibilities of life.
Can't really say that farming them out would be more effective though.
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