PHILOSOPHICAL QUESTIONS THAT CHILDREN ARE ASKING By Angel MEG
Education starts at home. Sooner, in a child’s life, teachers will come as second parents. Parents and teachers serve as the chief resource persons or the most trusted philosophers, setting the foundation in a child’s mind. And the inquisitions seem to never end…
In a third world country like ours, parents and teachers seem to be more exposed in questions like
“Bakit po ang kaklase kong mayaman, may taga-gawa na project? E ako po, wala”
and
“Is it our obligation to help the needy? E tayo rin po ay mahirap.”
It seems, to me, that our economic situation makes our children to be more emotional when it comes to their questioning.
Metaphysically, many children ask 'what is this?' Parents and teachers can answer that easily, given their limited knowledge on that particular subject matter. However, epistemologically, some children still ask ‘what should we know still?’ and other philosophical questions that require the parents and teachers to exert more (and more and more...) effort. And without the presence of higher cognitive skills such as synthesis, analysis and evaluation, in that order po, some questions can not be really answered well. You can't really ask more details until you answer the essence of that particular knowledge, right? =) So, in that sense, the epistemologist either has to start with that challenge, or pick up from an answer given by the sciences. Then, phenomology asks 'how is it with knowing?' which is pretty intriguing, too. Believe me. =)
Naturally, a busy person leads his/ her child to the great unknown. Notice how our parents or teachers point the tricky questions directly to God. It is not easy to analyze, discuss and elaborate the limited or sensitive answers that we know to children. One of the most famous questions is
"Paano po ako ginawa?"
You know what, I can still recall what my mother told me:
"Inilagay ka ni God sa tiyan ko!" =)
Majority of my friends admitted that they did not exert much effort in answering their children. And since we are in a third world country that is greatly influenced by its colonized past, teachers and parents seem to be inspired by Phillip Reiff’s “The moral life begins with renunciation.” As long as children were not spoiled, some parents and teachers believe that the world will soon answer their queries. Simply, answers will just be exposed.
Personally, my primary and secondary mentors (parents and teachers) taught me the essence of education at such an early age. Many of my childhood inquisitions were not answered but were defined by accumulation, accomplishment, distraction or even fashion of the media. Well, with all that is available for us to read, write or discuss, why is it that so many children know more about the movies than the answers that can be delved in the books? And why aren’t we more discerning about the movies and programs that we watch?
It seems that we should reflect on our younger years now. And perhaps do the same philosophy of Socrates while we enchant ourselves with the incessant "Mirror, mirror, on the wall…” or better yet, with the sensible questions like ...
Are children naturally rational, or must they be trained to be so?
Or, if they are naturally somewhat rational, is that rationality necessarily enhanced by teaching them the arts and sciences? =)
Ciao! =)
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