A friend sent me a link this morning to an article talking through the lens of the recent release of "Inside Out 2", about some of the dangers of therapizing our kids to the point they are "old hats" at therapy talk. I think I have spoken about this kind of thing earlier here, but there is mounting evidence that this constant psychoanalytical approach to child development is harmful for children's actual development. A big part of the problem is that it hyper-focuses on the individual.
I also tend to believe that this focus on characterizing all the different emotions are fragmenting the self, so that rather than a holistic or meta view of a whole person, we are tiny slices with each to be treated independently. And because of the focus on the broken fragments, we struggle to consolidate ourselves into a whole, a single entity. This fragmentation disconnects us from understanding the larger system, and means that we are always putting out the tiny fires of the momentary emotional state, rather than developing and maturing forward into something greater.
Obviously, it is good for children to be able to talk through their emotions, but I also think that society as a whole might be bringing them into conversations that they are not ready for. In some way, it is similar to the introduction of violence, body image perspectives, or sexualization of children through social media and the media as a whole.
However this way we are giving them tools to analyze their lives, without the experience of when to apply, or at what level it is valid to apply. As a result, we are helping them to focus on low level pain, but experience it as if it is high level, whereas the same thing in the past would have been considered a normal, healthy experience for a growing kid learning to become an adult.
What I do know is, this incessant therapy speak isn't improving the outcomes of children, as there are an increasing number of mental health issues rising. Yes, social media is a big part of the problem, but the tools they have to experience social media are also lacking - because they have been conditioned to put all the emphasis on themselves, to promote themselves, and compare themselves to others.
To let children be children and play like, we also need to let them think like children.
And so ends Day 1.
Taraz
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