The first thing that came to my mind while reading this was that, considering the author, I wonder if one of his unspoken justifications for arguing this is for kids to push the current source of cheap labor out of the market, namely illegal immigrants.
Your choice of icon, which I'm going to preserve the text of below in case you ever rotate that one out, captures where my thoughts are trending:
When you choose an ACTION you choose the consequences of that action.
I'm mulling over numerous other ideas related to the labor market, university fixtures / culture, etc. And I find it curious that Mr. Gingrich is of a generation that wouldn't / didn't handle their children according to this same prescription. Again, still processing. I agree that immigrant labor would feel the impact in some way, but I also haven't read closely enough yet to see where Gingrich believes the newly college-educated or high-school accelerated youth would fit into the labor market.
I chose that icon very deliberately, as you probably guessed. I see several long-term consequences to Gingrich's proposal, and none of them appeal to me. For example, in the Middle Ages, the age of reason was considered to be 7 - that was the minimum age at which a child could enter into contracts, including betrothals. Marriage itself was legal once the child had reached the age of puberty. How far would Gingrich like to see the eradication of adolescence taken? In 20 years' time, will 7 be the accepted minimum age at which a child accused of a crime can be tried as an adult? Will 10-year-old girls be allowed to marry 40-year-old men? Shall we expand the draft to include 14-, 15-, 16-year-olds
( ... )
I did not bother to read the entire article as it became clear to me that Newt Gingrich does not know his science.
The frontal lobes in adolescents are not fully developed. Considering the role that the frontal lobe plays in regulating behavior, it is misguided to claim that adolescents can handle the responsibilities of adult. They do not possess the capability to handle the demands that well.
He may demand the end of adolescence, but the science is explicitly clear that adolescence does exist - physically and mentally.
But are they underdeveloped because they have no responsibility to speed that development? In other words, if you compared the frontal lobes of American teens, who have an extended adolescence, with those of teens who have to take on responsibility early, would there be a difference? There are certainly examples of environment/behavior regulating physical and psychological development, as well as the other way around.
I'm so glad you raised this particular line of reasoning, T.! It's a very good question to raise (and K., I think, would be the first to say he's not exactly "average" *grins in accio_yossarian's direction*). Most definitely, there are a range of responsibilities teens could (and in some cases, probably should) undertake.
That being the case, I'm not sure the answer addresses topics (ex.) that magglenagall raised above. Where / how do those responsibilities get defined? By parents? By the education system? By employers? By the government? Still thinking this one through!!
I think that Europe has it mostly right, with state-paid colleges that you have to study very hard to get into. There, kids are forced to decide what they want to be in life at a very young age, since studying for entrance exams is so arduous that they need to start around the time they start high school. If they know they don't want to do university, then they need to seriously consider a different career path and enroll in vocational schools as appropriate. Here? Have bad grades due to sheer laziness? Daddy will pay your way, don't worry
( ... )
Comments 7
Reply
When you choose an ACTION you choose the consequences of that action.
I'm mulling over numerous other ideas related to the labor market, university fixtures / culture, etc. And I find it curious that Mr. Gingrich is of a generation that wouldn't / didn't handle their children according to this same prescription. Again, still processing. I agree that immigrant labor would feel the impact in some way, but I also haven't read closely enough yet to see where Gingrich believes the newly college-educated or high-school accelerated youth would fit into the labor market.
Reply
Reply
The frontal lobes in adolescents are not fully developed. Considering the role that the frontal lobe plays in regulating behavior, it is misguided to claim that adolescents can handle the responsibilities of adult. They do not possess the capability to handle the demands that well.
He may demand the end of adolescence, but the science is explicitly clear that adolescence does exist - physically and mentally.
Reply
Reply
That being the case, I'm not sure the answer addresses topics (ex.) that magglenagall raised above. Where / how do those responsibilities get defined? By parents? By the education system? By employers? By the government? Still thinking this one through!!
Reply
Reply
Leave a comment