Thought for today:
"There will never be a dispute between animal lovers and other humans as to who makes the best parents; cuddly chimps or malevalent mums? All will readily agree in this instance that the chimps win hands down.
But what would your answer be when you consider the question, 'Who best prepares their young to stand upon their own two feet?'
While I haven't lost my faith in the human capacity to be good and responsible parents towards their young, I also believe that we fall flat so many times by allowing our protective instincts to prevent our young making mistakes and experimenting with 'who' and 'what' and 'where' they would want to one day be as adults.
I believe that humans, for right or wrong, tend to be ruled by the heart instead of the head and by emotion and design as opposed to reason and necessity.
I believe that we 'hold on' to our young far longer than they would often like to be held on to and that unlike the animal species, we ill-prepare them to meet the many perils and dangers that they will face in their future lives as adults. There are so many things that I refer to here that it would be impossible to cite them all, but four major areas will surfice for the purpose of illustration.
I think parents ought to have more regard to the physical, emotional, moral and humanistic aspects of living and being. If I was starting again as a parent, I would not let my children grow up without acquainting them with the importance of the food chain and the consequences of eating habits. I would inform them fully about the necessity of taking regular exercise, avoiding all addictive substances and always expessing feelings honestly and appropriately. I would also make them aware of the essential need of remaining sincere, charitable, accepting and non-discriminatory in their dealings with others; of familiarising themselves with the major religions of the world and the political systems that govern it and shape themelves. Chief among these would be learning the history of one's country and culture, along with familiarising oneself with the ancestry of one's family tree. Folk who have no idea of where they come from can never know where they are going!
I would always advise that they marry for love and wherever possible within their own social and cultural grouping, but that they equally recognise that because very few humans change at the same rate and develop in the same direction throughout their lives, that all relationships have a time limit on them. For the lucky ones, it is the death of one partner that severs the partnership, but for the majority of couples in a union, it is at the point of separation and a parting of the ways that its 'shelf life' has been reached.
Finally, always teach your children by example the importance of having fun. Just as the apes advocate the the best means of 'having fun' along the way is to occasionally swing from trees, I feel humans would be better advised also to remove the parental constraints and instead to encourage their young to jump in puddles occasionally and to sometimes do things for no other reason then the sheer fun of doing it!" William Forde: September 30th, 2014.
"There will never be a dispute between animal lovers and other humans as to who makes the best parents; cuddly chimps or malevalent mums? All will readily agree in this instance that the chimps win hands down.
But what would your answer be when you consider the question, 'Who best prepares their young to stand upon their own two feet?'
While I haven't lost my faith in the human capacity to be good and responsible parents towards their young, I also believe that we fall flat so many times by allowing our protective instincts to prevent our young making mistakes and experimenting with 'who' and 'what' and 'where' they would want to one day be as adults.
I believe that humans, for right or wrong, tend to be ruled by the heart instead of the head and by emotion and design as opposed to reason and necessity.
I believe that we 'hold on' to our young far longer than they would often like to be held on to and that unlike the animal species, we ill-prepare them to meet the many perils and dangers that they will face in their future lives as adults. There are so many things that I refer to here that it would be impossible to cite them all, but four major areas will surfice for the purpose of illustration.
I think parents ought to have more regard to the physical, emotional, moral and humanistic aspects of living and being. If I was starting again as a parent, I would not let my children grow up without acquainting them with the importance of the food chain and the consequences of eating habits. I would inform them fully about the necessity of taking regular exercise, avoiding all addictive substances and always expessing feelings honestly and appropriately. I would also make them aware of the essential need of remaining sincere, charitable, accepting and non-discriminatory in their dealings with others; of familiarising themselves with the major religions of the world and the political systems that govern it and shape themelves. Chief among these would be learning the history of one's country and culture, along with familiarising oneself with the ancestry of one's family tree. Folk who have no idea of where they come from can never know where they are going!
I would always advise that they marry for love and wherever possible within their own social and cultural grouping, but that they equally recognise that because very few humans change at the same rate and develop in the same direction throughout their lives, that all relationships have a time limit on them. For the lucky ones, it is the death of one partner that severs the partnership, but for the majority of couples in a union, it is at the point of separation and a parting of the ways that its 'shelf life' has been reached.
Finally, always teach your children by example the importance of having fun. Just as the apes advocate the the best means of 'having fun' along the way is to occasionally swing from trees, I feel humans would be better advised also to remove the parental constraints and instead to encourage their young to jump in puddles occasionally and to sometimes do things for no other reason then the sheer fun of doing it!" William Forde: September 30th, 2014.
