4 ms·

People gain understanding when we relate things to their frame of reference. Kids have very limited life experience and their frame of reference is very low. In

by ivell 2y ago

People gain understanding when we relate things to their frame of reference. Kids have very limited life experience and their frame of reference is very low. Introducing new concepts that are not relatable would create huge gaps in real understanding. For example, explaining encryption as a lock to prevent thieves from stealing data is much more understandable to kids than going into actual definition of encryption. Lock is something concrete that they have seen, while encryption is an abstract concept hard to grasp.

TeMPOraL 2y ago
Except encryption is nothing like a lock, and "stealing data" is a problematic term, as it's stretching the concept of theft way past its common meaning - it's using the term "stealing" in the exact same way people saying "software piracy is stealing" are. So that's already providing completely twisted mental model to kids. And it stems in big part from trying to pass one specific application as an answer to what the thing is. (What is a car? It's like extra legs for your butt, that can run very fast and carry multiple butts.) You can get much closer to the truth by explaining encryption as a trick to make words understandable only to those who know the trick. You can play a substitution game with your kids, explain how you and them could agree that when one says "snake" it means "I", etc. and so "snake eats green grass" means "I am very hungry", and that you'll understand them but no one else will, etc. At any given age, kids are as likely to understand secrecy as they're to understand why locks exist, so it's really just a choice of not using a bad and confusing analogy.
- ivell 2y ago
  Substitution is a new concept for kids. Not something they can readily understand. So you need to explain that in terms of a game. Kids know what secrets are. But from their point of view, why even talk about it if it is secret? Why can't we go to another place and talk secretly? Why do we need to talk secrets in public using substitution? Since they do not see obvious need for it in their daily life and there are workarounds for it, they do not get why there is a need for substitution. By the time we explain all these to them, they would have already lost interest, or context and would easily forget the whole thing.
  - TeMPOraL 2y ago
    > Kids know what secrets are. But from their point of view, why even talk about it if it is secret? Why can't we go to another place and talk secretly? Why do we need to talk secrets in public using substitution? Connect this to surprise gifts and birthday invites. Or another thing that resonates with them. Explaining locks and their purpose ain't any easier. Just yesterday, my daughter asked me why I'm locking the extra set of doors we're normally keeping open, and when I told her about the just-issued warning about burglaries in our area, well, there's a lot of context to explain before a 5yo gets why locking the doors is the right thing to do in this scenario. I mean, there's always a lot of explaining to do with kids anyway. So far, I've never had trouble giving them real explanations and letting them know when they're simplified.
  - mlhpdx 2y ago
    > Substitution is a new concept for kids. Children learn substitution with language. Hand signs and words are substituted for the objects, feelings and actions they know inherently. It’s tempting to apply adult context on children but it’s a mistake.
  - Izkata 2y ago
    Encryption might not even need much any explanation, just using familiar terms: kids come up with "secret languages" all the time between friends and siblings.
- deleted 2y ago
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by ivell 2y ago

TeMPOraL 2y ago

Except encryption is nothing like a lock, and "stealing data" is a problematic term, as it's stretching the concept of theft way past its common meaning - it's using the term "stealing" in the exact same way people saying "software piracy is stealing" are. So that's already providing completely twisted mental model to kids. And it stems in big part from trying to pass one specific application as an answer to what the thing is. (What is a car? It's like extra legs for your butt, that can run very fast and carry multiple butts.) You can get much closer to the truth by explaining encryption as a trick to make words understandable only to those who know the trick. You can play a substitution game with your kids, explain how you and them could agree that when one says "snake" it means "I", etc. and so "snake eats green grass" means "I am very hungry", and that you'll understand them but no one else will, etc. At any given age, kids are as likely to understand secrecy as they're to understand why locks exist, so it's really just a choice of not using a bad and confusing analogy.

ivell 2y ago
Substitution is a new concept for kids. Not something they can readily understand. So you need to explain that in terms of a game. Kids know what secrets are. But from their point of view, why even talk about it if it is secret? Why can't we go to another place and talk secretly? Why do we need to talk secrets in public using substitution? Since they do not see obvious need for it in their daily life and there are workarounds for it, they do not get why there is a need for substitution. By the time we explain all these to them, they would have already lost interest, or context and would easily forget the whole thing.
- TeMPOraL 2y ago
  > Kids know what secrets are. But from their point of view, why even talk about it if it is secret? Why can't we go to another place and talk secretly? Why do we need to talk secrets in public using substitution? Connect this to surprise gifts and birthday invites. Or another thing that resonates with them. Explaining locks and their purpose ain't any easier. Just yesterday, my daughter asked me why I'm locking the extra set of doors we're normally keeping open, and when I told her about the just-issued warning about burglaries in our area, well, there's a lot of context to explain before a 5yo gets why locking the doors is the right thing to do in this scenario. I mean, there's always a lot of explaining to do with kids anyway. So far, I've never had trouble giving them real explanations and letting them know when they're simplified.
- mlhpdx 2y ago
  > Substitution is a new concept for kids. Children learn substitution with language. Hand signs and words are substituted for the objects, feelings and actions they know inherently. It’s tempting to apply adult context on children but it’s a mistake.
- Izkata 2y ago
  Encryption might not even need much any explanation, just using familiar terms: kids come up with "secret languages" all the time between friends and siblings.
deleted 2y ago
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