James Bernard Murphy: In Defense of Being a Kid
[Mr. Murphy is a professor of government at Dartmouth College.]
Amy Chua, the “tiger mother,” is clearly hitting a nerve—especially among the anxious class (it used to be called the upper class), which understands how much skill and discipline are necessary for success in the new economy....
Our wisest sages also disagree fundamentally about the nature of childhood. The ancient Greek philosopher Aristotle famously declared that “no child is happy” on the grounds that children are incapable of the complex moral and intellectual activities that constitute a flourishing life. Aristotle said that when we describe a child as happy, what we mean is that he or she is anticipating the achievements of adult life. For him, the only good thing about childhood is that we leave it behind.
By contrast, Jesus frequently praised children, welcomed their company, and even commanded adults to emulate them: “Unless you become like a little child, you shall not enter the kingdom of God.”
Tom Sawyer enjoyed a childhood of nearly pure adventure with minimal preparation for adult life. The 19th-century philosopher John Stuart Mill, by contrast, barely survived a “tiger father” who enforced a regime of ruthless discipline and learning that would make Ms. Chua blanche.
Most of us would like Tom’s childhood followed by Mill’s adulthood. But as parents we are stuck with trying to balance the paradoxical demands of both preparing our children for adulthood and protecting them from it....
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Amy Chua, the “tiger mother,” is clearly hitting a nerve—especially among the anxious class (it used to be called the upper class), which understands how much skill and discipline are necessary for success in the new economy....
Our wisest sages also disagree fundamentally about the nature of childhood. The ancient Greek philosopher Aristotle famously declared that “no child is happy” on the grounds that children are incapable of the complex moral and intellectual activities that constitute a flourishing life. Aristotle said that when we describe a child as happy, what we mean is that he or she is anticipating the achievements of adult life. For him, the only good thing about childhood is that we leave it behind.
By contrast, Jesus frequently praised children, welcomed their company, and even commanded adults to emulate them: “Unless you become like a little child, you shall not enter the kingdom of God.”
Tom Sawyer enjoyed a childhood of nearly pure adventure with minimal preparation for adult life. The 19th-century philosopher John Stuart Mill, by contrast, barely survived a “tiger father” who enforced a regime of ruthless discipline and learning that would make Ms. Chua blanche.
Most of us would like Tom’s childhood followed by Mill’s adulthood. But as parents we are stuck with trying to balance the paradoxical demands of both preparing our children for adulthood and protecting them from it....