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The problem is not so much that kids can’t handle virtual education as much as we not being able to care for our kids because we have a jobs. Think about it...

The problem is not so much that kids can’t handle virtual education as much as we not being able to care for our kids because we have a jobs. Think about it... Do you think it’s normal for a human child to be institutionalized just because his/her parents are working? Where is their hunter-gatherer band when your kids need it? Nothing about 2020 nuclear family society is normal for a human child. Nothing at all.

actfrench 6y ago
Exactly. Academic education (subject mastery and developing tools to learn), childcare (being safe and happy and engaged while parents are working) and social learning (making friends, learning to work/collaborate with a group) are generally bundled together as one concept in a very weird way. As families, communities and as a nation, we need to strive to provide enriching childcare to our kids, great social experiences and quality education to them. Sometimes these things happen at the same time, but they don't have to. And sometimes they are best addressed separately. If we start thinking and addressing them individually, we might find ways to do all of them better.
baq 6y ago
your points seem to be contradicting each other. hunter gatherers would naturally have institutionalized child care - when some people go gathering, some people go hunting and some people stay put and look after the tribe's children if they aren't ready to do either. this is about as far from a nuclear family as you can get though, especially if the tribal culture isn't monogamous and e.g. a child can have many fathers who equally accept a child as theirs.
- jdmoreira 6y ago
  Until very very recent times a child would accompany the parents in their daily activities and help.
- bluntfang 6y ago
  how do the children learn how to pick up roles as a hunter and/or gatherer in the system you portray?
  - watwut 6y ago
    When the kids are big enough to learn something, they take those kids and teach them.
    - bluntfang 6y ago
      What age is that when it comes to something like gathering? Like around the time to be able to recognize shapes and point out things?
      - watwut 6y ago
        When your attention span allows you to be useful and when you are not slowing down adults.
mensetmanusman 6y ago
It takes more than one adult to give children enough direction per unit time for proper development. As our society has progressed in the last 50 years, almost half of children only have one adult in the household. The nuclear family as defined by two generation households is not ideal, we have found it amazingly helpful during the pandemic to have three generations in the same house, which is less common in our area of America.

actfrench 6y ago

Exactly. Academic education (subject mastery and developing tools to learn), childcare (being safe and happy and engaged while parents are working) and social learning (making friends, learning to work/collaborate with a group) are generally bundled together as one concept in a very weird way. As families, communities and as a nation, we need to strive to provide enriching childcare to our kids, great social experiences and quality education to them. Sometimes these things happen at the same time, but they don't have to. And sometimes they are best addressed separately. If we start thinking and addressing them individually, we might find ways to do all of them better.

baq 6y ago

your points seem to be contradicting each other. hunter gatherers would naturally have institutionalized child care - when some people go gathering, some people go hunting and some people stay put and look after the tribe's children if they aren't ready to do either. this is about as far from a nuclear family as you can get though, especially if the tribal culture isn't monogamous and e.g. a child can have many fathers who equally accept a child as theirs.

jdmoreira 6y ago
Until very very recent times a child would accompany the parents in their daily activities and help.
bluntfang 6y ago
how do the children learn how to pick up roles as a hunter and/or gatherer in the system you portray?
- watwut 6y ago
  When the kids are big enough to learn something, they take those kids and teach them.
  - bluntfang 6y ago
    What age is that when it comes to something like gathering? Like around the time to be able to recognize shapes and point out things?
    - watwut 6y ago
      When your attention span allows you to be useful and when you are not slowing down adults.

mensetmanusman 6y ago

It takes more than one adult to give children enough direction per unit time for proper development. As our society has progressed in the last 50 years, almost half of children only have one adult in the household. The nuclear family as defined by two generation households is not ideal, we have found it amazingly helpful during the pandemic to have three generations in the same house, which is less common in our area of America.