Is it wrong to teach your kids how to think?

garyneal

Okay, I know better than to ask this group THAT question. Critical thinking helps people to see propaganda as it is being presented and enables people to see through lies and other BS disguised as 'truth.'

Yet, my wife told me tonight that she did not want me to teach our child how to think. She said that I needed to let the school system teach them that. When I told her that most people do not think, she said that this was not true. If people did not think, this world would be in chaos. I told her, following rules is not thinking, anyone can be trained to follow rules. True thinkers question the why concerning these rules.

Of course, I handled her request to not teach my children to think by asking her how she would feel if I told her not to teach our children things she thought was important to her? Namely the Watchtower nonsense.

What are your thoughts?

wasblind

" I told her, following rules is not thinking, anyone can be trained to follow rules. True thinkers question the why concerning these rules "

Amen to that garyneal,

The Bible says to test, ask and seek, and a thinking person will take heed to this.

The problem with kids today is that parents leave to the teachers what they themselves

should be doin' . Just because a teacher can show a child how to solve a math problem

doesn't mean I share the same values as that teacher. I wouldn't necessarily want that teacher

raisin' my child

cyberjesus

yeah lets not teach them that, thinking s from d devil. what else do h think honey we shouldnt teach them? yeah lets just wait n jehovah.

AudeSapere

She might want to ask the teacher or principal what they think about that. Do the educators feel that it is their sole responsibility to teach children everything they need to know or do they think the children would benefit from a cooperative situation where the parents area actually involved in their childrens' education? Seems to me that teachers *want* the parents to work with the kids at home

-Aude.

VirginiaPatriot

I would think a loving creator, like a loving father would be happy to answer all the s questions his children ask him.

Thomas Jefferson delighted in watching his granchildren reading and soaking up knowledge.

A father would encourage them to explore, think, ask questions, come up with answers on his own, my dad was always glad when i "used my head."

To stifle a child asking questions is wrong, they will never be able to think for themselves. Just wait till the first time they are approached by a drug dealer. If you use up your alloted amount of allowed questions, then you are a debater.

This is what JW's want to happen so you will just blindly cough up the coins at the back of the Kingdom Hall (Becuase the Lord loveth a cheerful giver after all and we want to please him right?)

We all know what happens to people who cannot think for themselves...does Jim Jones and David Koresh come to mind?

Nice_Dream

No, it's not the teacher's reponsibility, it's the parents. Your wife is concerned about you teaching your children how to think critically of the Watchtower. "Independent thinking" is frowned upon...or mislabeled as "prideful."

garyneal

Thanks guys. I guess my wife is more concerned about my kind of thinking. She thinks I am going to lead her to a path of atheism if I employ it.

But how else do I counter teachings that my daughter will be subjected to under that Watchtower.

"Honey, your dad is going to die in Armageddon because he did not become a Jehovah's Witness."

"Honey, Jehovah is not happy with your dad because your dad thinks worldly holidays are okay."

tec

I guess my wife is more concerned about my kind of thinking.

That's what it sounds like to me. If questions come up with my kids, I will point out that some people believe this and some believe that... and at that point many kids take the lead and ask 'why?'. Sometimes I just tell them what I think though, too.

Perhaps the big 'fear' that is surrounding 'critical thinking' is that someone is going to teach children that they cannot believe anything on faith. That everything must be proven to them first - by a scientific method. So that the fear concludes that this might lead to disregarding philosophy, or reasoning, or the evidence that people do accept that leads them to a belief in a creator.

Tammy

tec

Oh, also... I think its the school's job to teach math, science, english, social studies, geography and history... etc. Not critical thinking skills (although it is certainly a bonus if they do so).

Parents are responsible for morals, thinking skills, ethics, responsibility, etc.

Tammy

Scully

Au contraire, it is wrong to NOT teach your children how to think.

We teach our kids so many things, like how to dress themselves, how to speak, how to be polite, how to eat, how to read and write, and as they get older, how to use money, how to save money, how to drive, how to cook, how to clean. We do those things because they are valuable skills that will serve them well throughout their lives. Why should thinking for themselves be relegated to chance or left to the devices of the school board or teachers who may or may not have a personal agenda?

Children want to learn how to think. Just call to mind how many times your children ask you "WHY??" Those are perfect opportunities to ask them "Well, tell me why you think it's that way."

Is it wrong to teach your kids how to think?

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