[…]
The desire to offer every conceivable opportunity is a “displaced fear about the collapse of the future,” Dr. Mogel said. The reality is that failing to give your child ballet lessons at age 6 probably has not deprived her of a career as a prima ballerina.
Children’s Activities No Guarantee of Later Success - NYTimes.com (via mlherold)
On the one hand, I’m a firm believer in parenting less and a strong opponent of “helicopter parenting.” (Maybe I favor “Predator drone parenting”? Stay out of sight but not out of mind, keep an eye on things, limit yourself to a judicious intervention once in a while and recognize that collateral damage will happen?)
And so it’s helpful for helicopter parents (or, more accurately, helicoptered children) to deliver a reality check that, no, ballet classes at 6 will not determine your child’s future (let alone happiness).
On the other hand, I’m struck that Levitt doesn’t seem to have considered the idea that one might sign up a 6 year old for ballet classes not to turn him into a ballerina or boost his chances to get into Harvard but… to introduce him to something he might enjoy.
I may wax lyrical about homeschooling and the like, but I still subscribe the commonsense view that sometimes children have to be coerced into activities like music that they won’t enjoy at first but will be glad they’ve learned later. (And I am well attuned to the pitfalls of the extreme: I got my first piano recital award at 3 and was doing advanced composition and orchestral direction workshops as a preteen until I threw it all to the dogs in a fit of adolescent rebellion and now regret that I can’t even play Frère Jacques on a piano.)
(via pegobry)
