ANSWERS: 22
  • Yes. Because people presume that when children are in the corner of the room playing that it's all they're doing. They don't consider that every child is naturally a learning machine, and so a child's attention span is a lot wider than most adults.
  • I do. I can remember thinking some things that if I said out loud, would have seemed very strange for a child to say, and I honestly think that if I attempted the mathematics I'm doing at this level, I would have been able to understand it then, but I was never given that opperunity. I was smarter than I even gave myself credit for. I can remember, as soon as I was introduced to these new things "eleven", "tweleve" and "thirteen", my first reaction was "oh no, I'm not going to be able to keep up with this". Weird.
  • Children are definately smarter than we think. They hear things we don't hear, see small things we don't even see anymore. And they have incredible memories. That's proof enough for me!
  • Yep -- and sometimes it comes in forms we don't immediately understand. I had a child psychology professor in school who used to tell us this story (proving what a good scientist he is): He did an experiment early in his career that he thought was an exploration of persistence in confronting barriers. Eighteen-month old kids and their mothers were placed in a room. The kids were put into an area that was walled off by 3 foot high plexiglass panels. The mothers were outside the enclosure – in-sight, but not reachable. On average, the little boys spent 2 minutes slapping or pushing on the plexiglass, at which point they would sit down and cry, ending the experiment. On average, the little girls would spend about 30 seconds patting or pushing on the plexiglass, at which point THEY would sit down and cry, ending the experiment. He reported his original results as evidence that little boys, on average, will invest more effort in overcoming a problem before giving up than little girls do, on average. Years later, he was discussing this research in an undergraduate psychology class. One of his female students came up to him after the lecture and said she felt there was something that just didn’t feel right about his results and asked to examine the raw data (the notes, films of the sessions, etc.). Jerry, being the cool guy that he is, was impressed by her moxie and immediately said yes. After she reviewed the raw data, she met with him and told him that the design of his experiment had missed the point. She argued that the end of the experiment was not when the kids sat down and cried, but when the kids achieved the “reward” laid out in the scenario – getting to their mothers. She pointed out that what his experimental design defined as “giving up” was actually the point at which the kids landed on the only possible successful strategy – asking for help. So while it was true that the little boys would try four times longer than the little girls to solve the problem themselves, the little girls actually solved the problem in 25% of the time it took the boys to do so – because they were more readily willing to ask for help from the “ally” in the room – their mothers. Again, being a cool guy, Jerry was absolutely delighted that his mistake had been identified. He told that story in every class he taught afterward. First, as a cautionary tale about realizing that all of us have hidden biases. And, second, as an explanation for why men will spend more time than women driving around in circles before they ask for directions.
  • Definitely. I think kids are very perceptive. For example, some married couples chose to stay together "for the kids" not realizing that can have negative effects as well. Kids know when there is friction between their parents.
  • Oh yes. My generation seems to think that children are clueless and helpless and need to be spoon-fed but I'm always surprised what my children are capable of when left to their own devices.
  • Yes, but they try to keep it quiet so we don't ask them to help filling in the tax returns.
  • Heck yeah! Case in point: My wife and I are taking the kids to Disney World last year. Our oldest is 9 and we're working with him on directions, Interstate signs, mile markers and what-not, as part of his Cub Scout requirements. He's figured out we're on I-95 on the map, and now we're trying to get him to figure out whether we are going North or South. We're trying to get him to figure it out by the position of the sun, the mile markers, the map...whatever means possible without actually giving him the answer. Finally, I was getting frustrated and said "Come on! This isn't that difficult! Which direction are we going?" His youngest sister (6 years old) pipes up and says "FORWARD!" Kids. They are smarter than we give them credit for! And if you don't believe it, then ask them something totally off the wall and see how they answer....like "What's the difference between boogers and snot?" (My oldest daughter seriously answered this at 7 years of age: "Boogers you can roll up into little balls. Snot is too slimey to roll up.")
  • Some smarter and some dumber. I think so because you are attempting to generalize which don't work so good - in general. +5
  • They ain't any dumber than their parents, just more innocent of knowledge.
  • yep. one example i can think of is my friends 3 y/o who says she wants to be skinny. not only has she figured out that 'skinny' is 'ideal' but also that to get skinny- she knows that she just has to starve herself! therefore wont eat. scary huh? sad world
  • Yes. Almost every "child-proof" invention seems to fail. Children are more aware of what is going on around them. They are curious and are in the learning process. They absorb more because they seem not to take learning for granted yet.
  • I think there are many "proud parents" out there who think their son Johnny is a genius just because he put together 10 pieces of Lego's and said Vroom Vroom... and Jonny's only 9 years old. Lol.
  • Yes I do. Working with children that are 4 and 5 yrs old has shown me that they are extremely smart little sponges. For the parents out there..They talk about what mommy and daddy say and do at home in class. Careful, little picture have big ears as my grandmother says.
  • I agree with that. The only thing I can think of is, many people must not remember their thought process as children or infants beyond the superficial. That's just my own opinion, I've never asked anyone however but I've never heard anyone mention it.
  • i think so but it really depends on the child
  • Yes, and parents need to be asking them more questions than feeding them information.
  • i think so, ive heard of kids saving their parents lives when they called 911 when the parent had a medical emergency
  • Much, much smarter.
  • One thing that amazes me is when they stare at a phone all day instead of exploring real life.
  • Yes they are smarter then adults
  • They mature faster nowadays.

Copyright 2023, Wired Ivy, LLC

Answerbag | Terms of Service | Privacy Policy