I am not a parent, and probably shouldn’t be. While I think this is a sound argument, it may very well be a terrible thing to tell a child.
Alex has two friends: Barney and Colin. Barney almost always does the right thing. Colin does the right thing whenever it suits him, but when it doesn’t suit him, he does whatever he wants.
When Alex has to decide between sharing something with either Barney or Colin, he’ll pick Barney, because he can trust him more. If he has to choose someone to go on an awesome adventure with, he’ll pick Barney, because he can’t be sure Colin won’t do something selfish if they get into a sticky situation. When he talks to other people, he’ll tell them that Barney’s a great, amazing guy, but he won’t say the same thing about Colin, because if other people see Colin doing the wrong thing, they might think he is the sort of person who does the wrong thing.
Alex may like Colin, but he has respect for Barney. This makes Barney important in a way that Colin isn’t. People will go out of their way to help Barney in a way they won’t do for Colin.
As your parent, I will probably love and care for you more than anyone else in the world, but when you don’t do the right thing, even I lose respect for you. If other people see you not doing the right thing, they won’t respect you, and that will make your life a lot harder.
When writing this, it occurred to me that I have no idea how many of the concepts in it would carry over to an eight year old’s level of understanding. Would a 21st-century first-world child even have a sense of their life being made harder?
Thanks, it’s an interesting thought. Yes, I think a child may understand the difference between popularity and real respect, if examples in real life or fiction could be found.
I am not a parent, and probably shouldn’t be. While I think this is a sound argument, it may very well be a terrible thing to tell a child.
When writing this, it occurred to me that I have no idea how many of the concepts in it would carry over to an eight year old’s level of understanding. Would a 21st-century first-world child even have a sense of their life being made harder?
Thanks, it’s an interesting thought. Yes, I think a child may understand the difference between popularity and real respect, if examples in real life or fiction could be found.