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Anmeldungsdatum: 26.03.2006 Beiträge: 10077
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(#963156) Verfasst am: 26.03.2008, 12:00 Titel: Werd mal endlich erwachsen... |
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Kinder und Jugendliche dürfen nicht heiraten, keinen Sex haben, keine Verträge abschließen ja nicht einmal etwas besitzen, man hält sie für inkompetent und nicht schuldfähig. Warum eigentlich? Und mit welchen Konsequenzen?
Interview mit Dr. Epstein
http://psychologytoday.com/articles/index.php?term=20070302-000002&page=1
Zitat: | Why do you believe that adolescence is an artificial extension of childhood?
The whole culture collaborates in artificially extending childhood, primarily through the school system and restrictions on labor. The two systems evolved together in the late 19th-century; the advocates of compulsory-education laws also pushed for child-labor laws, restricting the ways young people could work, in part to protect them from the abuses of the new factories. The juvenile justice system came into being at the same time. All of these systems isolate teens from adults, often in problematic ways.
What are some likely consequences of extending one's childhood?
We have completely isolated young people from adults and created a peer culture. We stick them in school and keep them from working in any meaningful way, and if they do something wrong we put them in a pen with other "children." In most nonindustrialized societies, young people are integrated into adult society as soon as they are capable, and there is no sign of teen turmoil. Many cultures do not even have a term for adolescence.
You believe in the inherent competence of teens. What's your evidence?
Dumas and I worked out what makes an adult an adult. We came up with 14 areas of competency—such as interpersonal skills, handling responsibility, leadership—and administered tests to adults and teens in several cities around the country. We found that teens were as competent or nearly as competent as adults in all 14 areas. But when adults estimate how teens will score, their estimates are dramatically below what the teens actually score.
What can be done?
I believe that young people should have more options—the option to work, marry, own property, sign contracts, start businesses, make decisions about health care and abortions, live on their own—every right, privilege, or responsibility an adult has. I advocate a competency-based system that focuses on the abilities of the individual. For some it will mean more time in school combined with work, for others it will mean that at age 13 or 15 they can set up an Internet business. Others will enter the workforce and become some sort of apprentice. The exploitative factories are long gone; competent young people deserve the chance to compete where it counts, and many will surprise us. |
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