The Middle Way In Educating Children


Dr. Michael LaitmanQuestion:
Is it harmful for a child when a parent doesn’t create the right environment for him and doesn’t explain to him what happens in the outside world, which means that he doesn’t act as a mediator between the child and this world?

Answer: If I isolate my child in very rigid frameworks and put a leash on his neck and only thus show him how he should act, I don’t allow him to develop. He will grow up to be a very narrow-minded person who does only what is required of him and is not concerned about anything else as long as everyone leaves him alone.

But if I keep him in a vacuum and don’t give him any guidelines, he becomes even more miserable because he looks for something to do. In that case he is prone to internal outbursts and strong pressures that appear in a person in the form of undesirable actions and outcomes at every age.

Therefore, both methods are totally unacceptable. There has to be a middle way according to which I give my child the right guidelines and tell him what is what and give him examples. He sees his parents as a role model of what we expect of him.

What is more, in a healthy society this example is given not only by his parents but also by others around him, like his neighbors, relatives, people at school, and friends. Thus, having no other choice, he tries to form and internally embody everything he sees around him.
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From KabTV’s “The Last Generation” 7/09/15

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An Ideal Educator

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