What can we do today to help the children of tomorrow?

What you can give them is your love, but not your thoughts, because they have their own thoughts. What you can shelter is their bodies, but not their souls, because their souls belong to tomorrow, a tomorrow that you cannot reach in your dreams. ——What is Ji Berren\’s \”About Children\” in the future? No one could have predicted that ten years ago, we would be too lazy to text. Ten years later, we can’t live without WeChat. Ten years ago, our parents answered everything for us. Ten years later, we taught our parents to post on Moments. So, what about another ten years? Nowadays, if you open the technology channel of any website, all kinds of new information will come to you: Alpha Go versus Lee Sedol, triggering discussions about artificial intelligence replacing humans. Artificial intelligence can no longer only replace porters and delivery people, but can even begin to Challenge the professional work fields such as doctors and lawyers. When all traditional professional professions are disintegrated, how will we make a living in ten years? VR technology is developing rapidly, and it will change our understanding of reality and illusion. When reality and illusion can be switched at will, how should we view the world we live in ten years from now? …Just as we ten years ago couldn’t see today ten years from now, we today can’t see the future ten years from now either. Even Hawking could only regret that in the time dimension, human beings are only half-dimensional creatures, and there is no way to go back or move forward. So, what does the future hold? No one can predict it. We cannot predict the future, but we want to use today’s experience to guide the children of the future. I don’t know why. Although we cannot see what the future will be like, we like to use our experience to guide the children of the future. Seventeen years ago, when I was applying for the college entrance examination, I wanted to apply for the Chinese Department because I like writing. My mother insisted on letting me fill in the accounting field. The reason was that it would be easier to find a job. Accountants are needed in all eras. Seventeen years later, I have come full circle and am still a writer. Even I don’t understand what I have gained from four years of college. Now, when I scold my children who are busy playing games: \”You know how to play games, what\’s the use of playing games? It\’s a waste of time! If you have this time and energy, you might as well read more books!\” I suddenly Realize, how did I become the kind of adult I hate? There is an issue of Luo Ji Thinking titled \”What kind of future will our children have?\” A passage from Fatty Luo touched me deeply: Children are not only people who are born later than us, but also people who are born after we die. For people who have a long time to live, it is not enough to use our experience to deal with their future. When our children grow up, the competition they face is actually more brutal. They don’t have to worry about food and clothing. However, all kinds of asymmetries are increasing, and it is actually more difficult to achieve a dignified and meaningful life. Yes, just like my mother can\’t use her experience to point out the correct path in life, I don\’t know what the correct path is for my children. Maybe, in my eyes, playing games is a waste of time. In the eyes of children, is it a process of learning and mastering skills? So, since we cannot predict the future, thenWell, don’t try to use our current experience to guide the children of the future. What can we give our children? In the future, our knowledge of the world, and the way we think about it, will fundamentally change. Knowledge has changed, skills have changed, what abilities do children need to have? Facing an unknowable and uncontrollable future, if our current experience cannot guide our children, what can we give our children? In an interview with Sanlian Weekly, Yuan Yongli, the principal of the No. 2 Experimental Primary School in Beijing’s Zuiniu Primary School, said: The knowledge in the future society will be infinitely rich, and knowledge may be the most indispensable “wealth” in the future society. The essence and core of education is not to let children master how much knowledge, but to cultivate their minds. As long as they live in human society and in any historical period, these minds are important. Howard Gardner, the educator and Harvard professor who created the theory of multiple intelligences, studied \”which minds are the most important in the future world.\” These studies answered a question: If you want your children to develop better in the future world, What aspects should we focus on cultivating? Professor Howard believes that there are several types of minds that are very important to a child\’s future: the wisdom of comprehensive planning, the wisdom of pioneering and innovation, and the sense of responsibility and morality. Interestingly, cultivating children with these types of minds does not require our experience, but requires us to \”let go\”. The wisdom of comprehensive planning requires us to let go of our children\’s studies. We often focus on our children\’s current studies, pay attention to school courses and examination subjects, and take it for granted that interests other than studies are \”not doing their job.\” It\’s the same for me. Whenever I see my daughter playing video games, I can\’t help but nag her. Sometimes, I even confiscate her gaming tools. Comprehensive coordination ability is a cross-border ability, which requires people to have broad vision and interests and the ability to see problems from multiple angles. We have to let go of our children\’s studies appropriately and guide their interests, because we don\’t know which sprout will grow and dominate the child\’s destiny in the future; we must protect our children\’s curiosity, because novel ideas can develop For association and cross-thinking. The wisdom of innovation requires us to let go of children\’s time allocation. Dr. Gray, a psychologist at Boston College in the United States, believes that play is very important in cultivating children\’s ability to develop and innovate. Gray said: “During play, children make their own rules and negotiate with each other to finally determine the fairest way of playing that satisfies everyone. As a result, their creativity is developed and they learn to think about and understand other players. Psychology, instead of letting adults set rules for them and solve all problems in a big way.\” But we like to control our children\’s time allocation, and the result is: Statistics from social scientists show that children now spend time outdoors every day They play less than half as much as their parents did. To cultivate children\’s pioneering and innovative abilities, we have to let go of time allocation and let children play freely, instead of using their childhood to build a beautiful resume for college admission. Responsibility and morality require us to let go of our children\’s lives. American mother Skenatz filmed a series. In the program, a 10-year-oldThe mother of the boy Sam loves her son very much and does not allow him to ride a bicycle (because she is afraid that he will fall and get injured), does not allow him to cut the meat on the plate with a table knife (thinking that he will definitely cut his fingers), and does not allow him to participate in skating. \”Rough sport,\” pleads a stressed and frustrated Sam, \”all I want is to do my own thing.\” With today\’s extensive media propaganda, children may face difficulties when acting independently. The dangers are exaggerated. This has given rise to a common worry among many parents, especially those from middle-class families: As long as they do not keep an eye on their children\’s every move, they are putting their children in danger. But in fact, statistics do not show an increase in the dangers faced by children. On the contrary, such incidents are on a downward trend. Responsibility and morality require children to have the ability to take independent responsibility. However, if we do not let go of our children\’s lives, these children who have never had the opportunity to face risks alone will not only be unable to cope with risks, but will also subconsciously avoid risks when they come. Responsibility and morality? In fact, like everyone, I suffered from arithmetic disease after becoming a mother. I often calculate how old I will be when my children go to junior high school and how old I will be when they go to college. These calculations reveal my anxiety – anxiety about my children\’s future life. However, slowly, I began to realize that our experience cannot guide the children of the future. Instead, we must learn to let go in order to equip our children with the ability to adapt to the future society. In this case, why not say to yourself: relax, our children are fine! I think this is not only \”letting go\” of the children, but also \”letting go\” of ourselves. After all, in fact: your children are not actually your children. They are children born of life\’s desire for itself. They rely on you. They came to this world, but they did not come because of you. They are by your side, but they do not belong to you. Text | Qianxun [East-West Children’s Education]