A BIRD’S EYE VIEW:
The biggest Philippine flag measuring 180 metres was unfurled yesterday at northern
Friday, June 13, 2008
Philippine Independence Day, 12-Jun-2008
It's Never Too Late
From FOCUS ON THE FAMILY
TODAY • Friday • June 13, 2008
By Dr James Dobson
I’m sure you’ve noticed that the world seems to worship youth and fears getting old. But there was a time when age was associated with wisdom and experience. In fact, some of the greatest accomplishments in history came very late in life.
Immanuel Kant wrote one of his best philosophical works at the age of 74. Verdi penned his classic Ave Maria at 85. Alfred Lord Tennyson was 80 when he wrote Crossing the Bar. Michelangelo was 87 when he completed The Pieta, his greatest work of art. Justice Oliver Wendell Holmes set down some of his most brilliant opinions at the age of 90. Titian painted his famous Battle of Lepanto at the age of 98. And Ronald Reagan was the most powerful man in the world at 75.
Generally speaking, older people today are healthier than ever before and anything that squanders their talents is foolish. And while we’re on the subject, it bugs me a little that television advertisers are only interested in the younger set. Isn’t a tube of toothpaste sold to an 80-year-old just as profitable as one pitched to a child?
This notion that life should be winding down at 50 or 60 years of age is crazy. I’ll bet the baby-boomers agree with me. They set the world on its ear when they were children. They’re not going to go limping off the stage before they absolutely must, nor should you or I.
TODAY • Friday • June 13, 2008
By Dr James Dobson
I’m sure you’ve noticed that the world seems to worship youth and fears getting old. But there was a time when age was associated with wisdom and experience. In fact, some of the greatest accomplishments in history came very late in life.
Immanuel Kant wrote one of his best philosophical works at the age of 74. Verdi penned his classic Ave Maria at 85. Alfred Lord Tennyson was 80 when he wrote Crossing the Bar. Michelangelo was 87 when he completed The Pieta, his greatest work of art. Justice Oliver Wendell Holmes set down some of his most brilliant opinions at the age of 90. Titian painted his famous Battle of Lepanto at the age of 98. And Ronald Reagan was the most powerful man in the world at 75.
Generally speaking, older people today are healthier than ever before and anything that squanders their talents is foolish. And while we’re on the subject, it bugs me a little that television advertisers are only interested in the younger set. Isn’t a tube of toothpaste sold to an 80-year-old just as profitable as one pitched to a child?
This notion that life should be winding down at 50 or 60 years of age is crazy. I’ll bet the baby-boomers agree with me. They set the world on its ear when they were children. They’re not going to go limping off the stage before they absolutely must, nor should you or I.
Thursday, June 12, 2008
Finding Your Job Meaningless?
From FOCUS ON THE FAMILY
TODAY • Thursday • June 12, 2008
By Dr James Dobson
A Russian novelist once wrote: “If you want to utterly crush a man, just give him work that’s of a completely senseless, irrational nature.”
It’s true. In a concentration camp outside Hungary during World War II, Jewish prisoners were forced to move a mountain of dirt from one end of the compound to the other.
The next day, they were told to move it back again. For weeks, this went on until one day, an old man began sobbing uncontrollably and he was led away by two captors. Days later, another man who had survived three years in the camp suddenly darted away from the group and threw himself on an electrified fence.
In the weeks to come, dozens of prisoners just went mad, running from their work and eventually being shot by the guards.
It was later learned that the cruel activity had been ordered by the commander as an experiment in mental health just to see what would happen when people are forced to do meaningless tasks.
There’s no question that the person who finds fulfillment in his or her work will enjoy greater physical and emotional health. On the other hand, a person who feels caught in a meaningless job will tend to become irritable and discouraged. If you sense that your talents are being wasted, it may be time to consider a change of career.
Life is just too short to spend it doing something that is demeaning, monotonous and not motivating. But before you move out of the old house, you’d better make sure you have a new one waiting. Even dead-end jobs are better than none at all.
TODAY • Thursday • June 12, 2008
By Dr James Dobson
A Russian novelist once wrote: “If you want to utterly crush a man, just give him work that’s of a completely senseless, irrational nature.”
It’s true. In a concentration camp outside Hungary during World War II, Jewish prisoners were forced to move a mountain of dirt from one end of the compound to the other.
The next day, they were told to move it back again. For weeks, this went on until one day, an old man began sobbing uncontrollably and he was led away by two captors. Days later, another man who had survived three years in the camp suddenly darted away from the group and threw himself on an electrified fence.
In the weeks to come, dozens of prisoners just went mad, running from their work and eventually being shot by the guards.
It was later learned that the cruel activity had been ordered by the commander as an experiment in mental health just to see what would happen when people are forced to do meaningless tasks.
There’s no question that the person who finds fulfillment in his or her work will enjoy greater physical and emotional health. On the other hand, a person who feels caught in a meaningless job will tend to become irritable and discouraged. If you sense that your talents are being wasted, it may be time to consider a change of career.
Life is just too short to spend it doing something that is demeaning, monotonous and not motivating. But before you move out of the old house, you’d better make sure you have a new one waiting. Even dead-end jobs are better than none at all.
Wednesday, June 11, 2008
Why Couples Must Row in Unison
From FOCUS ON THE FAMILY
TODAY • Wednesday • June 11, 2008
By Dr James Dobson
Imagine two boats drifting together on a choppy lake. A man sits in one of them and a woman in the other. They have every intention of crossing the lake together because they genuinely care about each other.
But slowly, they begin to drift apart. Each catches different currents and gusts of wind that turn their little boats in opposite directions. Before they know it, one person is at the north end of the lake and the other bobs along at the south.
They can hardly communicate without shouting from such a great distance. And by then, there are a number of children in a third boat, little bewildered children.
This is a dramatic analogy to the plight of too many marriages today.
Husbands and wives begin their journey side by side, with every intention of remaining together for a lifetime. But the pressures of everyday living turn them in their own directions and towards their own pursuits, and away from each other.
Unless both the husband and the wife are willing to row, work together, talk through their difficulties and compromise, it’s likely they will not reach the far side of the lake together.
But this need not happen. Their boats can remain side by side, if each partner is willing to row. Otherwise, the currents of culture will separate them forever.
TODAY • Wednesday • June 11, 2008
By Dr James Dobson
Imagine two boats drifting together on a choppy lake. A man sits in one of them and a woman in the other. They have every intention of crossing the lake together because they genuinely care about each other.
But slowly, they begin to drift apart. Each catches different currents and gusts of wind that turn their little boats in opposite directions. Before they know it, one person is at the north end of the lake and the other bobs along at the south.
They can hardly communicate without shouting from such a great distance. And by then, there are a number of children in a third boat, little bewildered children.
This is a dramatic analogy to the plight of too many marriages today.
Husbands and wives begin their journey side by side, with every intention of remaining together for a lifetime. But the pressures of everyday living turn them in their own directions and towards their own pursuits, and away from each other.
Unless both the husband and the wife are willing to row, work together, talk through their difficulties and compromise, it’s likely they will not reach the far side of the lake together.
But this need not happen. Their boats can remain side by side, if each partner is willing to row. Otherwise, the currents of culture will separate them forever.
Tuesday, June 10, 2008
Baby With Four Arms, Legs Born in Indonesia
From GLOBAL ROUNDUP
TODAY • Tuesday • June 10, 2008
A young Indonesian mother gave birth to a baby girl with four arms and four legs but the child died within hours, a hospital director said yesterday.
“She was to be a twin but because of an intrauterine problem, the separation process did not proceed well,” said Dr Wijayanti Utoyo, the director of the general hospital in Garut, West Java.
The baby girl, born after a normal nine-month pregnancy, had one head and one torso, but an extra pair of arms and legs, she said.
The 24-year-old mother already has one child. — AFP
TODAY • Tuesday • June 10, 2008
A young Indonesian mother gave birth to a baby girl with four arms and four legs but the child died within hours, a hospital director said yesterday.
“She was to be a twin but because of an intrauterine problem, the separation process did not proceed well,” said Dr Wijayanti Utoyo, the director of the general hospital in Garut, West Java.
The baby girl, born after a normal nine-month pregnancy, had one head and one torso, but an extra pair of arms and legs, she said.
The 24-year-old mother already has one child. — AFP
The value of education
From today's devotional...
"... The value of our college education is not the amount of raw knowledge which it gives us. There are men whose minds are amazingly full of facts, yet no one would call them educated men. And there are others who have comparatively few facts at their command, yet you instinctively recognize that they are educated..."
"... For true education is not meant to store us; true education is intended to awaken us; and the joy of the truly educated man is no poor pride in his superior knowledge: it is that he has been so wakened that in every realm and sphere he can see glories unobserved before."
"... The value of our college education is not the amount of raw knowledge which it gives us. There are men whose minds are amazingly full of facts, yet no one would call them educated men. And there are others who have comparatively few facts at their command, yet you instinctively recognize that they are educated..."
"... For true education is not meant to store us; true education is intended to awaken us; and the joy of the truly educated man is no poor pride in his superior knowledge: it is that he has been so wakened that in every realm and sphere he can see glories unobserved before."
Proud to be Unique
From FOCUS ON THE FAMILY
TODAY • Tuesday • June 10, 2008
By Dr James Dobson
At 2.2 metres, Sandy Allen is the tallest living woman, but it’s her big heart that’s most impressive.
Most people would consider it a thrill to be listed in the Guinness Book of World Records, but Sandy’s claim to fame is a bit more difficult to accept. It’s hard going through life being stared and pointed at by people on the street. And it hasn’t always been easy for her.
“The most unpleasant part is trying to overcome the pain of growing up different. It wasn’t much fun, because the children, especially the boys, teased me a lot, and the girls basically ignored me,” she said.
Nevertheless, Sandy learned to live with the rejection and instead of becoming bitter and wounded, she chose to use her pain to assist others. Today, she spends her time helping children understand that being unique isn’t something to be ashamed of.
“What I try to do is encourage people who might be down on their lives and show them that if they don’t give up, they’ll get their problem solved,” she said.
We live in a world obsessed with physical beauty and sex appeal. At times, it seems as though being born different is the biggest crime a person can commit.
But what does that say to those who don’t fit into our mould? I think it’s time we carved out a place of respect for the entire human family.
TODAY • Tuesday • June 10, 2008
By Dr James Dobson
At 2.2 metres, Sandy Allen is the tallest living woman, but it’s her big heart that’s most impressive.
Most people would consider it a thrill to be listed in the Guinness Book of World Records, but Sandy’s claim to fame is a bit more difficult to accept. It’s hard going through life being stared and pointed at by people on the street. And it hasn’t always been easy for her.
“The most unpleasant part is trying to overcome the pain of growing up different. It wasn’t much fun, because the children, especially the boys, teased me a lot, and the girls basically ignored me,” she said.
Nevertheless, Sandy learned to live with the rejection and instead of becoming bitter and wounded, she chose to use her pain to assist others. Today, she spends her time helping children understand that being unique isn’t something to be ashamed of.
“What I try to do is encourage people who might be down on their lives and show them that if they don’t give up, they’ll get their problem solved,” she said.
We live in a world obsessed with physical beauty and sex appeal. At times, it seems as though being born different is the biggest crime a person can commit.
But what does that say to those who don’t fit into our mould? I think it’s time we carved out a place of respect for the entire human family.
Monday, June 09, 2008
The Economic Vulture and its Prey
From "Succeed With John Bittleston"
TODAY • Monday • June 9, 2008
There will be inflation when something vital to human existence is scarce
HALF the people alive today have never experienced serious inflation. They will shortly.
At the end of it, many will have starved to death. Those remaining will live in a very different world from that of the past 50 years.
Cheap food, easy personal mobility, considerable leisure time, increasingly high medical standards — all these are going to be severely dented by “the enemy within”: Inflation.
Can we prevent it? Can we cure it when it happens? How can we cope with it? Societies wake up to threats quite suddenly, having long ignored the warning signs. Those who predicted problems were castigated as pessimists, ignored and mentally pilloried. “Optimism will solve our problems. Let’s be positive.” Yes, indeed, but let’s be realistic first.
The planet is not short of food or energy. It can support more people if we conserve a responsible amount of the natural habitat and do not pollute ourselves to death. But many populations are more short of money today than they were 10 years ago. Can that be right, by any standard?
Inflation used to be localised; it is now international. The big demands of rapid growth, fuelled by expectations of people who know how the other half lives and want a slice of it for themselves, mean that market mechanisms draw speculators into hoarding against expected price hikes.
As I write this article, available oil freighter tonnage is in short supply because so many tankers are being sailed deliberately slowly across the oceans, in anticipation of better pickings when they arrive.
Are the speculators to blame for inflation? No.
They are fulfilling a function the market demands, although we should examine whether the controls on them are adequate to prevent informal cartels from artificially raising the costs. After all, hedge funds and derivatives were doing a job for the market, too. Their sordid demise led to much suffering and quite a lot of the world inflation now.
Assigning blame is not going to solve the problem. Indeed, most of us are partly guilty. Our natural greed, whether motivated by the desire to secure others’ future or simply to demonstrate our ability to win, is the root of the problem. A competitive society demands competition and that means winners and losers.
As long as the law of supply and demand operates — forever — there will be inflation when something vital to human existence is scarce. Energy, food, water, air and medicine are all going to be in short supply in the future. When two or three shortages occur together, horrendous inflation follows. We can only use our resources as prudently as possible to mitigate it.
If we work hard at transparency in business dealings, we will solve some of the problems. Being open will discourage speculative hoarding, especially if there are rules against it, and corrupt marketing can be reduced. The world is aware of the need for transparency but is not yet committed to achieving it.
We must now do two things to cope with inflation.
Price increases must be lower than cost increases. That will reduce dividends but will make the value of those dividends greater in the medium term. One of the worst accelerators of inflation is the desire to profit in an inflationary market — and the ease of doing so.
We must also borrow more sensibly. Borrowing to invest is wise. Borrowing to indulge is foolish. When we learn that tomorrow really does come, we will prepare for it properly.
Until then, we shall have what we are about to see and experience: Serious inflation.
John Bittleston mentors people in business, career and their personal lives at www.TerrificMentors.com
TODAY • Monday • June 9, 2008
There will be inflation when something vital to human existence is scarce
HALF the people alive today have never experienced serious inflation. They will shortly.
At the end of it, many will have starved to death. Those remaining will live in a very different world from that of the past 50 years.
Cheap food, easy personal mobility, considerable leisure time, increasingly high medical standards — all these are going to be severely dented by “the enemy within”: Inflation.
Can we prevent it? Can we cure it when it happens? How can we cope with it? Societies wake up to threats quite suddenly, having long ignored the warning signs. Those who predicted problems were castigated as pessimists, ignored and mentally pilloried. “Optimism will solve our problems. Let’s be positive.” Yes, indeed, but let’s be realistic first.
The planet is not short of food or energy. It can support more people if we conserve a responsible amount of the natural habitat and do not pollute ourselves to death. But many populations are more short of money today than they were 10 years ago. Can that be right, by any standard?
Inflation used to be localised; it is now international. The big demands of rapid growth, fuelled by expectations of people who know how the other half lives and want a slice of it for themselves, mean that market mechanisms draw speculators into hoarding against expected price hikes.
As I write this article, available oil freighter tonnage is in short supply because so many tankers are being sailed deliberately slowly across the oceans, in anticipation of better pickings when they arrive.
Are the speculators to blame for inflation? No.
They are fulfilling a function the market demands, although we should examine whether the controls on them are adequate to prevent informal cartels from artificially raising the costs. After all, hedge funds and derivatives were doing a job for the market, too. Their sordid demise led to much suffering and quite a lot of the world inflation now.
Assigning blame is not going to solve the problem. Indeed, most of us are partly guilty. Our natural greed, whether motivated by the desire to secure others’ future or simply to demonstrate our ability to win, is the root of the problem. A competitive society demands competition and that means winners and losers.
As long as the law of supply and demand operates — forever — there will be inflation when something vital to human existence is scarce. Energy, food, water, air and medicine are all going to be in short supply in the future. When two or three shortages occur together, horrendous inflation follows. We can only use our resources as prudently as possible to mitigate it.
If we work hard at transparency in business dealings, we will solve some of the problems. Being open will discourage speculative hoarding, especially if there are rules against it, and corrupt marketing can be reduced. The world is aware of the need for transparency but is not yet committed to achieving it.
We must now do two things to cope with inflation.
Price increases must be lower than cost increases. That will reduce dividends but will make the value of those dividends greater in the medium term. One of the worst accelerators of inflation is the desire to profit in an inflationary market — and the ease of doing so.
We must also borrow more sensibly. Borrowing to invest is wise. Borrowing to indulge is foolish. When we learn that tomorrow really does come, we will prepare for it properly.
Until then, we shall have what we are about to see and experience: Serious inflation.
John Bittleston mentors people in business, career and their personal lives at www.TerrificMentors.com
How do you create a family-friendly workplace?”
From ceo101: BALANCING WORK AND FAMILY
TODAY • Monday • June 9, 2008
MS CLAIRE CHIANG, MANAGING DIRECTOR, BANYAN TREE GALLERY
Banyan Tree strongly believes the balancing of work and family life is vital to the well-being of our associates which in turn results in the well-being and success of the company.
To achieve these goals, employers must consider aspects such as workplace design, rewards, career development and work-life strategies. Banyan Tree places an emphasis on flexibility with management actively encouraging associates to make use of existing policies.
Equitable proposals for re-design of work roles and re-deployment are supported throughout the different stages of our associates’ lives.
We also promote family bonding through company gatherings, and have instituted the complimentary hotel stay benefit.
TODAY • Monday • June 9, 2008
MS CLAIRE CHIANG, MANAGING DIRECTOR, BANYAN TREE GALLERY
Banyan Tree strongly believes the balancing of work and family life is vital to the well-being of our associates which in turn results in the well-being and success of the company.
To achieve these goals, employers must consider aspects such as workplace design, rewards, career development and work-life strategies. Banyan Tree places an emphasis on flexibility with management actively encouraging associates to make use of existing policies.
Equitable proposals for re-design of work roles and re-deployment are supported throughout the different stages of our associates’ lives.
We also promote family bonding through company gatherings, and have instituted the complimentary hotel stay benefit.
It’s about cruelty, not profits
From Voices, TODAY • Monday • June 9, 2008
Letter from DUDLEY AU
THE REPLY from Resort World Sentosa (RWS) to the letter “Of sharks’ fins and high rollers” (June 5) from Liang Dingzi appears to have missed the point.
RWS referred to a synergy of business and environment protection in “The 90-10 business decision” (June 7).
While we understand that in any business, profitability is preferred to insolvency, the moral balance sought relative to the consumption of sharks’ fins is based on cruelty. Protection, it is admitted, has a link to the species whose fins are consumed to satisfy epicurean fastidiousness, as well as traditional epicurism.
The species can be brought to the brink of extinction or extinction itself.
In this sense, RWS is correct about fauna protection because the breeding of sharks is relatively slow, having only one or two offspring between fairly long intervals.
The crucial factor, however, is the cruelty inflicted on the sharks.
The dorsal fins are sliced off and the sharks thrown back into the sea to die a slow death through starvation (unable to hunt) or falling prey to other predators because of the inability to defend themselves — the mutilation inflicted upon them has deprived the sharks of stability in movement.
Cruelty, therefore, is the prime factor around which revolves the debate and to say only a small quantity is eaten in private does not eradicate the cruelty involved to the animal and also insults logic.
This reasoning makes it clear that cruelty in small doses and the fins not seen to be eaten (in private) by high rollers is acceptable. This appears to look like convoluted logic.
Cruelty in any form and dosage is not acceptable nor justifiable. One either accepts the cruelty or rejects it.
There is no middle ground, where the supposed balance meets. What is contentious, in reality, is cruelty.
Letter from DUDLEY AU
THE REPLY from Resort World Sentosa (RWS) to the letter “Of sharks’ fins and high rollers” (June 5) from Liang Dingzi appears to have missed the point.
RWS referred to a synergy of business and environment protection in “The 90-10 business decision” (June 7).
While we understand that in any business, profitability is preferred to insolvency, the moral balance sought relative to the consumption of sharks’ fins is based on cruelty. Protection, it is admitted, has a link to the species whose fins are consumed to satisfy epicurean fastidiousness, as well as traditional epicurism.
The species can be brought to the brink of extinction or extinction itself.
In this sense, RWS is correct about fauna protection because the breeding of sharks is relatively slow, having only one or two offspring between fairly long intervals.
The crucial factor, however, is the cruelty inflicted on the sharks.
The dorsal fins are sliced off and the sharks thrown back into the sea to die a slow death through starvation (unable to hunt) or falling prey to other predators because of the inability to defend themselves — the mutilation inflicted upon them has deprived the sharks of stability in movement.
Cruelty, therefore, is the prime factor around which revolves the debate and to say only a small quantity is eaten in private does not eradicate the cruelty involved to the animal and also insults logic.
This reasoning makes it clear that cruelty in small doses and the fins not seen to be eaten (in private) by high rollers is acceptable. This appears to look like convoluted logic.
Cruelty in any form and dosage is not acceptable nor justifiable. One either accepts the cruelty or rejects it.
There is no middle ground, where the supposed balance meets. What is contentious, in reality, is cruelty.
NO ONE SOLUTION
From Voices, TODAY • Monday • June 9, 2008
A balance has to be struck between individual rights and overall good of society
Letter from PROFESSOR WALTER WOON
Attorney-General
I REFER to the letter “Keep our door open to ideas” by Siew Kum Hong (June 6).
Mr Siew has misunderstood me. I surmise from his letter that he was not present at my talk.
In my address at the launch of the Law Society’s Public and International Law Committee, I said that for some people human rights has become a religion. This religion, like so many others, has its fanatics who display all the hypocrisy and zealotry of religious bigots.
They believe that there is only one permissible view of human rights — theirs. They assume that when they decide what human rights are, that decision is for the rest of humanity.
I gave the example of those who think that the right to free expression means that one can insult the Prophet of a great religion with impunity. I asked rhetorically, can we accept this in our society?
I pointed out that all our moral codes emphasise obligations rather than rights: The rule is “thou shalt not steal” and not “thou hast a right to property”.
I also said that the balance between rights and obligations is one for each society to decide.
Let me make my position clear lest I be misunderstood again. Human rights are a key component of good governance. But there is no consensus on where the line is to be drawn between the rights of an individual and the good of the society as a whole.
Human rights fanatics think that their opinion is the standard to which the rest of humanity must conform to and that they are entitled to issue reports criticising those who hold a different view. These are people who evidently believe that they and their values represent the apex of human moral development.
There is no one solution that will fit all societies.
I took pains to say that we must decide for ourselves where we draw the line between individual rights and the common good, because if we get it wrong, it will be our children who will pay the price. But that is a debate for us, not for those who know nothing of our history, culture or values and who do not have our interests at heart.
I have never dismissed the sincerely-held views of anyone who is genuinely interested in dialogue. A constructive debate about our obligations to our fellow citizens and the guests who live among us is healthy.
That is why I wholeheartedly supported the Law Society’s initiative in creating a Public and International Law Committee and having a series of lectures on the Universal Declaration of Human Rights.
A balance has to be struck between individual rights and overall good of society
Letter from PROFESSOR WALTER WOON
Attorney-General
I REFER to the letter “Keep our door open to ideas” by Siew Kum Hong (June 6).
Mr Siew has misunderstood me. I surmise from his letter that he was not present at my talk.
In my address at the launch of the Law Society’s Public and International Law Committee, I said that for some people human rights has become a religion. This religion, like so many others, has its fanatics who display all the hypocrisy and zealotry of religious bigots.
They believe that there is only one permissible view of human rights — theirs. They assume that when they decide what human rights are, that decision is for the rest of humanity.
I gave the example of those who think that the right to free expression means that one can insult the Prophet of a great religion with impunity. I asked rhetorically, can we accept this in our society?
I pointed out that all our moral codes emphasise obligations rather than rights: The rule is “thou shalt not steal” and not “thou hast a right to property”.
I also said that the balance between rights and obligations is one for each society to decide.
Let me make my position clear lest I be misunderstood again. Human rights are a key component of good governance. But there is no consensus on where the line is to be drawn between the rights of an individual and the good of the society as a whole.
Human rights fanatics think that their opinion is the standard to which the rest of humanity must conform to and that they are entitled to issue reports criticising those who hold a different view. These are people who evidently believe that they and their values represent the apex of human moral development.
There is no one solution that will fit all societies.
I took pains to say that we must decide for ourselves where we draw the line between individual rights and the common good, because if we get it wrong, it will be our children who will pay the price. But that is a debate for us, not for those who know nothing of our history, culture or values and who do not have our interests at heart.
I have never dismissed the sincerely-held views of anyone who is genuinely interested in dialogue. A constructive debate about our obligations to our fellow citizens and the guests who live among us is healthy.
That is why I wholeheartedly supported the Law Society’s initiative in creating a Public and International Law Committee and having a series of lectures on the Universal Declaration of Human Rights.
Make Room for Childhood
Lifted from FOCUS ON THE FAMILY
TODAY • Monday • June 9, 2008
Make Room for Childhood
By Dr Bill Maier
Applying makeup to four-year-olds and giving them adult-looking dolls at five, letting them date at 12, and virtually emancipating them at 16 … Is this the best preparation for adulthood? I think not.
We used to give children time to grow up. We dressed them differently from adults – boys in short pants and girls in fluffy dresses with natural hairstyles.
We told them to act respectfully, to address their elders and to mind their manners when adults were around.
Becoming a grown-up was a big deal. Adults were considered to be stronger and wiser than children. Children had plenty of time to play and giggle and be themselves.
Nowadays, though, kids are presented on television as having more insight than their elders. They are used as confidants and are rushed, ready or not, from the womb to nursery school to the adult world in a few short years.
But all this scurrying to maturity leaves a child without a strong foundation upon which to build. It gives that individual a hazy self-concept.
It takes time to build a healthy human being. When you rush the process, your kids have to deal with sexual and peer pressures for which their young minds are just not ready. Besides, what’s the big hurry, anyway? Savour those childhood years and let the developmental process march to its own internal drumbeat.
TODAY • Monday • June 9, 2008
Make Room for Childhood
By Dr Bill Maier
Applying makeup to four-year-olds and giving them adult-looking dolls at five, letting them date at 12, and virtually emancipating them at 16 … Is this the best preparation for adulthood? I think not.
We used to give children time to grow up. We dressed them differently from adults – boys in short pants and girls in fluffy dresses with natural hairstyles.
We told them to act respectfully, to address their elders and to mind their manners when adults were around.
Becoming a grown-up was a big deal. Adults were considered to be stronger and wiser than children. Children had plenty of time to play and giggle and be themselves.
Nowadays, though, kids are presented on television as having more insight than their elders. They are used as confidants and are rushed, ready or not, from the womb to nursery school to the adult world in a few short years.
But all this scurrying to maturity leaves a child without a strong foundation upon which to build. It gives that individual a hazy self-concept.
It takes time to build a healthy human being. When you rush the process, your kids have to deal with sexual and peer pressures for which their young minds are just not ready. Besides, what’s the big hurry, anyway? Savour those childhood years and let the developmental process march to its own internal drumbeat.
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