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12 JULY 2010

NO 1601

Rediscovering lost truths

How could supposedly primitive societies rear responsible children while modern civilization is plagued by conflict between generations? Sociologist Herbert Vilikazi from Zululand University suggests that the elders of tribal cultures have a more sophisticated knowledge of child psychology than the narrow perspectives of modern science (Vilikazi, 1993). The challenge for modern society according to \/ilikazi is to rediscover these lost truths.

While all peoples are concerned with rearing healthy children, cultural practices are not always well-matched to this task. Mothers in Mayan tribes of Guatemala, like those in tribal cultures of India, are much more responsive to the needs of children than is common in Western child rearing. Small children in Polynesia watch others work and then pitch in to help as soon as they master simple skills(Martini and Kirkpatrick, 1992). In all of the world’s traditional cultures, children grow to maturity immersed in interactions with adults and older peers as caregivers. Traditional kinship systems worldwide are designed so that children have many mothers, fathers, and grandparents.

In Western middle class society, children are intentionally segregated from the social world of adults. From toddler days, they are shunted off to age-graded schools. By adolescence, peer relationships take precedence over family and community ties (Rogoff, 2003). Elsewhere in the world, most children’s groups include a full range of ages, and children spend only about ten percent of their time with same-age peers ((Rogoff, 2003).

It was not until the nineteenth century that children in Euro-American culture were isolated by age group. This was seen as essential for efficiency in running factory schools. Today from earliest years, children are confined to artificial communities of the immature. This may serve adult convenience but does not meet the needs of children. Such arrangements seem normal to us but contradict the sweep of human history. Children are deprived of mature adult and peer models and of opportunities to relate with responsibility to their younger peers.

Harsh discipline is rare — and also quite unnecessary — in cultures where children and adults live in mutual respect.The attachment instinct motivates the child to emulate elders, not disobey them. ln turn, the child’s dependency activates the tending instinct in adults, rousing them to roles of protection and guidance. So it has been throughout the history of humanity. Such is the lost truth we must rediscover.

LARRY K. BRENDTRO, MARTIN L. MITCHELL AND HERMAN J. MCCALL

Brendtro, L.K.; Mitchell, M.L. and McCall, H.J. (2009). Deep brain learning: Pathways to potential with challenging youth. Albion, Michigan. Starr Commonwealth. pp. 16-17.

REFERENCE

Martini, M. and Kirkpatrick, J. (1992). Parenting in Polynesia: A view from the Marquesas. In J.K. Roopnarine and D.B. Carter (Eds.)Parent-child socialization in diverse cultures. Vol 5. Norwood, NJ. Ablex Publishers.

Rogoff, B. (2003). The cultural nature of human development. New York. Oxford University Press.

Vilikazi, H. (1993). Rediscovering lost truths. Reclaiming Children and Youth, 1, 4. p. 37.

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