Childhood
Over the last few centuries there has been a shift to create more of a childhood for the youth of our cultures, more time to play and learn before taking on work and other responsibilities. Of course this is generally good with the focus on a safe, nurturing and supportive environment for our children. However, this seems to create problems for some developing youth who never learn self confidence from facing tough challenges and sometimes failing. They don't develop the necessary focus and discipline to be truly independent. One aspect of this is the common claim by children that they do not value money as much their parents (their parents are so cheap). Of course it certainly appears to be true to the children, but it is actually shows that they are ignorant of the true value of money. For most people, money itself is considered as a means for numerous ends; it represents the trade offs they make in their decisions. How much do they sacrifice for money and what benefits can that money provide? In a certain sense, money is the measure used to develop and allocate resources. Of course children who are dependent on their parents routinely disagree with the priorities of their parents, but it is commonly out of ignorance. A child will often want more or better toys and clothes and such, but does not understand that in order have more or better toys, something has to be given up (money is about the allocation of resources after all) and going hungry or being homeless is not something they consider but it is something that parents have to consider in order to insure there is sufficient money to prevent that. In the broadest sense, any person who gives money or things that money bought to another (their child for example) and the other person accepts and uses the money or things, then the giver values money less than the receiver else they wouldn't sacrifice for the sake of others. The problem from the perspective of children is that they have the decisions of their parents forced on them, their parents choose the sacrifices for themselves and their children and their children often have little control. It is this lack of control that is difficult for children and causes them to feel that their parents are too cheap and don't appreciate their sacrifices.Independence
For children who have not yet reached puberty, there seems to be a natural hormonal balance of acceptance. However, after puberty their hormones normally cause a greater desire for independence and much more rebelliousness. The hormones of acceptance for children are helpful for adapting to their lack of skills and control, accpeting their dependence on those around them. The hormones of independence are also essential for becoming independent adults, but they now occur at a time when we are increasingly forcing dependence on our children. When I was a child, I, like most of my friends, was quite independent from an early age. I would be off on my bike and exploring the world around me without my parents having any idea where I was or what I was getting into (and those often weren't very safe things so it may have been just as well that my parents didn't know). However, with our increasing hysteria about the dangers to our children1, we no longer allow our children the independence they once had. All this would be fine except that the hormones of independence kick in well before our children have enough control over their lives to really be independent. This problem is aggravated by the fact that our children are entering puberty at earlier ages for whatever reason.2Government Service
Of course it is simple to describe a problem, but the solution is often much more elusive. I really don't know of any good solution to the problem of teen hormones kicking in when they have no real opportunties to be independent. One thought that occurs to me is that mandatory national service often seems to help those who have the worst problems with inappropriate expressions of independence. I have never really understood why it is that military service and 'basic training' often controls teen rebelliousness. It is surprising to me that an environment that crushes independence normally developes self confidence, self discipline and a certain form of independence, but that has been my own observation. It might be related to the fact that often we find our own inner strength by simply surrendering to forces greater than our own (being a part of something greater be it God on the spiritual path or our unit in basic training). If it were up to me, I would make up to six years of national service mandatory for all young people up to the age of 25. Of course, it would need to start small with only the worst problems getting drafted into national service and liberal waivers for young people who are doing well in school, employeed, etc.. Service could start as young as 12 for those who aren't progressing in school to their high school graduation (held back, suspended, or dropped out). Service would last for two years or until the person received their GED (so that those who enter service before getting their high school diploma also get training to pass their GED within six years of service). Deferrals and waivers would also be liberally granted to those who were progressing toward their Bachelors degree (good grades on an approved program) and even graduate school. Employers could also get waivers for most employees, especially those who work summers between sessions in school. The general idea would be conscript those who aren't doing well at becoming more independent on their own. While young men seem to have the greatest need for this form of redirection, it probably would not be wise to explicitly discriminate. It is my expectation that if the appropriate criteria were made for those who were conscripted, it would be mostly young men just because they are the ones who would have the greatest need and would meet the criteria for selection. The initial training would be to be soldiers, i.e. basic training. However, after that only a select few would continue on to trained as soldiers (only the best as the pay and treatment would be better for soldiers proper and quite minimal for those who are just completing their required service). After the initial training, most would continue on to national service but remaining under military discipline. They could help maintain parks, build camps for other conscripts, maintain roads, help with harvests (supplementing much of the work now done by seasonal workers and illegal aliens), and so on. In general perform any needed task that could be done well by large teams and much could be under contract with the funds used to cover the expenses of providing food and shelter for the conscrpts. Of course it would also be somewhat of a burden for the military to take on the burden of retraining and, potentially, restraining the young misfits of our society. However, this wouldn't be the first time that our military took on responsibility for attempting to reform our juvenile delinquents and young criminals and they seem to be pretty suited for the task. While there does not seem to be any good solution to the problem of our soiety's efforts to extend childhood past the normal hormonal impluses for independence and adulthood, mandated service in the military could be helpful for those young people who have taken their independence in unwise directions. Click here to see the next rambling tale. __________________________________1 I often argue that our children are actually safer than previous generations. There is simply a greater awareness of the dangers they face and this awareness probably goes well beyond the actual risks into the realm of hysterical fear.
2 I hypothesize that one of the causes of early puberty could be better nutrition as well as the residual growth hormones in our commercially produced foods. While I have read that these low levels of hormones are completely harmless, how can anyone know that they are harmless. Indeed, I hypothesize that they lead to more rapid growth and early maturation which we have observed with greater exposure to these hormones.
This page was last updated on October 22, 2010