By Agustín Pérez, Spain.
That image of the grandchildren sitting around their grandparents seems to be disappearing. When ethnological studies proliferate with a major effort to collect traditions, music and folk stories-many of the traditional stories come from this source-The paradox is that within the family many may now be forgetting the memory of his history.
With the lack of coexistence between generations, and other cases where the children live with only one parent, it creates a breach of family oral traditions: the younger people lose not only the story of their ancestors or collateral relatives, but also lack knowledge of narratives or stories, perhaps not transcendent, but relevant to the strengthening of ties between the family group that have retained more of their life experience with their neighbors or their ancestors. Communication between different ages, in which each one informs the other of their knowledge, enriches all, the young will surely be experts in the new techniques of communication, and the grandparents will be experts in life.
Surveys confirm that most children like to be with their parents irrespective of the family which is the primary community of teaching and learning. That is learning the strengths and core values where each person finds his own identity . Family life, many times hindered by the presence of television which induces isolation- the conversation with parents for children is an important factor in education to enhance their ability for verbal expression, helping them to think and listen, and therefore to understand better.
The education of children requires a significant investment of time, that sometimes taken from the family, perhaps with concern for the economy, but forgetting their role as educators. That paternal dedication should in no way be substituted, even with the choice of an elite school. An important part of school failure is related to the lack of support from parents or older siblings.
Sure, children learn best when they know that they are supervised in their homework, or hear from her parents telling a story;reading does not give the nuances of voice or the warmth of human presence. Human society will be more supportive and less violent if the parents spend more time with their children, and certainly the nostalgia of the days of living together will be a good inheritance.
Comments