The Sub-Human Child Mentality

This is an article from my other blog: Under the Ice at astuteobservation.blogspot.com that I thought was extremely relevant to this page.

Adults have a common problem of classifying young people as one mass, not normal people but sort of semi-human group with relatively consistent opinions and tastes. Think about it and you'll see what I mean. Signs of it are everywhere: Kid's meals, kid's Post, kid's shows. All this because of the mistaken belief that all kids like the same things. This amalgamation of America's youth is a symptom of a bigger problem, which I call the "Sub-Human Child Mentality." This, quite obviously, is the belief that, as a very wise man so cogently put it, "children are in training to be people." People with this mentality (most of the adult population) assume that children have not developed a full enough spectrum of emotions, thoughts and experiences to be treated as relevant members of society. I, as someone who has recently undergone the change from a childlike mind to a more adult one, can testify that this isn't true. As a child, one is more fresh, more alive, more human in many ways than an adult. A young person hasn't had as many bad experiences as an adult, so their minds aren't clogged with fear. This is why children's opinions should be respected. I'm not trying to pretend that young people can decide everything by themselves. It is incredibly important, especially in the early years, that an adult's experience by factored before a decision is made. In an ideal world, experienced adults would explain the guidelines and limitations they understand from a long life, then let children decide within those parameters what they believe. The Sub-Human Child Mentality has grave repercussions in a young person's life, the primary one being inability to express oneself. Because children are not viewed as people with valid opinions, they don't get chances to say what's on their minds when they're young, and grow up not knowing how to communicate. It's satisfying to avenge all the young people who were classified as "below normal intelligence" or "ADD" because their culture disrespected them and not because they were born with a sub-normal cranial capacity. There are two fronts that must be tackled in the destruction of the Sub-Human Child Mentality and it's replacement with a respect for the young. First, there are the adults who must be re-educated to understand the ideas stated above. Second are the children, who will need no more than freedom and encouragement to make their mark on the world.