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The children of the The Turn of the Screw, Miles and Flora, kept popping into my mind. Especially after discussing the Kant's interpretation of Enlightenment.
These children are very mature for their age. They are eloquent, well-mannered, and surprisingly independent. Keep in mind that they are only ten and eight years old. When I compare Miles and Flora to my own childhood, I was definitely immature.
Kant states that "Enlightenment is man's emergence from his self-imposed immaturity. Immaturity is the inability to use one's understanding without guidance from another. This immaturity is self-imposed when its cause lies not in lack of understanding, but in lack of resolve and courage to use it without guidance from another. "
In my opinion, the age of maturity is being delayed more and more since the beginning of 19th century. This may be because there is no need for child labor in the developed countries. In addition, most developed countries are no longer based on agriculture and accept the existence of a childhood and the passage to adulthood. Therefore, the belief that children are little "adults" (that was prevalent in the 18th century) was overthrown and established the laws that distinguishes child from adult workers.
Nowadays, as the economy is stagnant, many more young adults are going back to live with their parents. In addition, the average age of marriage (which was culturally accepted as an initiation of adulthood) is delayed since 1890. People are taking longer to establish themselves as adults. Marriage, job, and house, the symbols of independence are harder to establish in the society today. It got me thinking. "Is it because our society placed age restrictions for the progress of the young adults?"
We can't smoke nor vote until we are 18. We can't drink until we are 21. We can't run for representative office until we are 25. We can't be senators until we are 30. We can't run for presidency until 35. All these age limits are forced upon us, but these limits were placed long time ago. It can't be the reason for the delayed maturity.
There is a scientific study that claims to have proven that the age of maturity in human is in the late 20s because the brain does not fully develop until the mid 20s. But, if this was true, then that means that unless the brain maturity was delayed in the last 100 years, nothing has changed much in the physical growth that contributes to maturity.
Then is it because of overprotective parents? Could the society possibly driving our parents to hold us as children more and more?
Yes, this is little extreme, but don't you think that the society may be treating the young adults like babies for a little longer than it used to?
Immaturity is encouraged when all ideas and rules are already set for the people to follow. This seems to be exactly what has been going on for the last century of history. More and more, the children's rights and protections were established and as an unintended consequence, our age of maturity is delayed. Think about it. We stay under our parents' wings for housing, food, education, and transportation. Of course, this is not pertaining to everyone. However, a great deal of us are dependent on our parents throughout college years, if not more. We are told what to do and where to go and how to act from very early on in our lives. This persists as we grow into adulthood.
If we were to be independent at an early age, most of us would panic.
Unlike Kevin, most of us cannot live a day without the guidance of our parents. "Do this, do that" my parents say often. The list of chores are endless- dishes, laundry, and vacuum to say the least. Moreover, "Do this because I know best" or "I told you" are types of commands we get from our parents and we are to follow their orders without reprimand. Although they are sincere and hope for the best, according to Kant, that is actually holding us back from Enlightenment.
I think that there are many reasons that influenced the delayed maturity these days. Firstly, I think that the longer life expectancy allows us to divide our lives while adding more years in each section of a life. Secondly, I think that the parental guidance expected to give nowadays to their children exceed the previous generations of parenting. Thirdly, the society's perspective of maturity has changed and promotes delayed maturity by restricting on the roles that a young adult could fulfill. Furthermore, the set of laws that control our actions are actually deterring us from maturity because we are not thinking for ourselves in our actions.
Is our society actually promoting us to grow more slowly?
I agree that youth in todays society has been allowed to enter adulthood at a slower rate than pervious generations. However, research suggests that children being able to play more in their youth makes them more articulate and have a better grasp on reality. It might seem backwards, but developing a child's imagination and giving them time to exercise can allow children to be more open minded and able to distinguish between real and imaginary. But thats not all, "Whenever you think about the Civil War or the Roman Empire or possibly God, you're using your imagination," says Paul Harris, a development psychologist and professor at the Harvard Graduate School of Education said in an article in the Wall Street Journal. "The imagination is absolutely vital for contemplating reality, not just those things we take to be mere fantasy." Allowing children experience childhood rather then being considered "little adults" and allowing them to mature at a more natural pase is a positive thing.
ReplyDeletehttp://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052748703344704574610002061841322.html
was not trying to portray that accepting the idea of childhood or adolescence is a bad thing. It is just that it seems as though that society itself is lengthening each section of life (childhood, adolescence, and adulthood) as our life expectancy increases. What I am trying to get, I guess, is how the society seems to be influencing the minds of our generation in terms of maturity. I am with you on the fact that imagination is very healthy for every individual, not just children. I think that I am a very creative individual myself. I was encouraged to take arts and still is fascinated and appreciate by colors, paintings, and music.
DeleteOn the other hand, I think that the independence is not emphasized enough in the society today. It should not be taken lightly as we have to participate in the society as a fully mature individual. I think that the correct step to approach this problem (in my opinion), is to teach responsibilities far earlier than what we tend to do now. This is not the case for all children, but I think majority of us, as college student, are beginning to learn how to maintain ourselves through daily chores such as doing dishes, laundry, cleaning, and more. I think this is too late as we are still heavily dependent on our parents although our bodies have matured to the fullest extent.
This is not to say that I believe that the minds should develop at the same rate as the body. Body matures just too fast (especially today). However, the real issue is that nowadays, it is not uncommon to see people in their 30s living in the basement of their parent’s house. If this is the product of bad economy, then fine. But I think that there is also a sense of protection and delayed maturity that has really taken effect in this kind of situation. I think we are taking our delayed maturity for granted as well since there are children around the world who have to mature quickly to survive. Creativity is important, but it is only secondary, it is not a necessity for many people.
Lastly, you said that there is a study proving that imagination helps people grasp reality. I actually never heard of that. It is very interesting. I hope this helped to clarify some of my thoughts on this post.