Folium: If You Love Your Child, Send Them Away. Far, Far Away via HuffPost
Folium: If You Love Your Child, Send Them Away. Far, Far Away via HuffPost
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“See ya mom and dad! I’m going to France! ” coming from the mouth of a twelve year old could be a parent’s worse nightmare. Kristin Bigelow heard those very words from her 12 year old daughter after she had come across a brochure to go on a foreign exchange trip to France. Kristin was extremely apprehensive in considering letting her daughter travel so far away. But Kristin shares that over a year later she found herself waving goodbye at the airport as her daughter boarded the plane to France.
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Little did Kristin know, but the trip that her young daughter left on, was a trip that would change and shape her life forever. She explains that her daughter’s exchange adventures left her better than ever. “She is a self-confident, problem-solving, open-minded 17-year-old who speaks French, German, and Spanish in addition to her native English” says Kristin. The experiences that her daughter had while in a different countries has changed her life completely. There’s no place like home, but if you never leave it, you’ll never miss it.
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[The greatest growth opportunities for our children are not always under the watchful eye of mom and dad.] – HuffPost
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Most of the kids these days don’t leave home until eighteen, and if they do leave home it’s only for a week at a summer campy. The greatest growth opportunities for our children are not always under the watchful eye of mom and dad.There is a huge problem facing children today, and that is society is convincing our children that they can’t do anything without parents. The children never learn to believe in themselves and their abilities, simply there is a takeover of responsiblity, which is a fault on the parents side. They think that they are unsafe without the constant ring of a parent’s voice in the background. Independence is a gift that children need to have so that they are allowed the opportunities to take on challenges without mom or dad.
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In order to learn and grow, children need to experience the world firsthand . The more that parents and teachers realize that teaching them the “old ways” of doing things, aka doing everything for the, is not going to help them in the long run. Innovative education places greater value in exploration. In exploration there is true value of expression of freedom. New Vision for Education: Fostering Social and Emotional Learning Through Technology stated; “The gap between the skills people learn and the skills people need is becoming more obvious, as traditional learning falls short of equipping students with the knowledge they need to thrive.”
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Shameless plug for FLCC’s Study Abroad Programs!
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While Kristin’s daughter was out and about exploring new lands, she also explored and learned new languages. There are life-long benefits that are result of learning a second language. Some benefits include scoring better on standardized tests or opening up broader career options. But Kristin argues that a classroom is not the best place to learn a foreign language. I know that my high school Spanish didn’t serve me well when I was dropped off in a Spanish speaking country. Kristin says that we should send our children far from home. When our children are out exploring new territory and having to fend for themselves, they find a way. By being immersed in a new culture and a new language, they learn to adapt.
Julie Martin
LEAF Editor & Contributor
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