Critical thinking is a big thing nowadays. In a world full of fake news and how impressionable children are, it’s a recipe for a fantastic infodemic disaster! Children are quick to believe what they hear from the elders because of our current culture: parents are always right and children don’t know anything. But that’s something we should change soon.
Though, dear parents, we understand you’re also currently stressed about your children catching COVID-19. Or worse, even yourselves catching this dreaded disease, which is more harmful to older people. However, you can’t just read out every stressful news to your children. Your children will get stressed and even your spouses will. Despite this, now’s the perfect time to help teach them how to sift through the information properly.
So, why should you teach your children critical thinking?
So They Won’t Be Gullible.
Seriously, critical thinking allows children to anticipate and think about the situation carefully. If someone told them that jumping off a cliff will make them smarter, they would know that it doesn’t work that way! At the same time, they would be able to research for themselves to help find their own answers.
Remember, being gullible causes more harm than good! After all, we are in our current situation due to the gullibility of some people.This is precisely how fake news spreads.
They can understand the world better.
What’s the difference between this and being gullible? Being gullible is just falling for someone’s lies. However, helping your child understand better gives them a chance to practice empathy to be kinder to others. It also helps them to solve problems that they need to solve. Eventually, they’ll become better people who can help solve the world’s problems.
They’ll be able to learn on their own.
One day, the kids will have to learn on their own. And they can’t do that if they can’t think for themselves or know how to examine things critically. Sadly, they will have to learn from those bumps and bruises they get along the way. But it’s precisely why they have to learn how to do critical thinking. That way, they won’t have to repeat the same mistakes.
However, with their critical thinking skills, they will not only learn how not to repeat mistakes, but how not to commit them in the first place. This happens because they will see how dumb some people can be, and they will come to the conclusion that they don’t want to repeat these dumb moves. This way, they will be able to learn from the mistakes of others.
They’re Living in a World that’s Constantly Changing.
We hate to bring up age but as parents, we know you’re not getting any younger. In a world that’s constantly evolving due to globalization, children have to learn how to keep up on their own. The lessons from back then may not apply to them now. It’s what may cause the generation gap that you’re currently wrangling with especially with your teenager.
And especially now where everyone’s in a state of panic, critical thinking is more important than ever. Adults, teenagers, children – an infodemic does not choose its victims. It only has one requirement: for a person not to think. At this point, the best thing to do is to help your child filter through the information they’ll be taking in.