Cynthia Castillo

Adora Svitak: What adults can learn from kids - Transcript

Now, I want to start with a question: When was the last time you were called childish?
For kids like me, being called childish can be a frequent occurrence. Eery time we
make irrational demands, e!hibit irres"onsible behaior or dis"lay any other signs of
being normal #merican citi$ens, we are called childish. Which really bothers me. #fter
all, take a look at these eents: Im"erialism and coloni$ation, world wars, %eorge W.
&ush. #sk yourself, who's res"onsible? #dults.
Now, what hae kids done? Well, #nne Frank touched millions with her "owerful account
of the (olocaust, )uby &ridges hel"ed to end segregation in the *nited +tates, and,
most recently, ,harlie +im"son hel"ed to raise -./,/// "ounds for (aiti on his little bike.
+o, as you can see eidenced by such e!am"les, age has absolutely nothing to do with
it. 0he traits the word childish addresses are seen so often in adults that we should
abolish this age1discriminatory word when it comes to critici$ing behaior associated
with irres"onsibility and irrational thinking.
2#""lause3
0hank you.
0hen again, who's to say that certain ty"es of irrational thinking aren't e!actly what the
world needs? 4aybe you'e had grand "lans before but sto""ed yourself, thinking,
50hat's im"ossible,5 or, 50hat costs too much,5 or, 50hat won't benefit me.5 For better or
worse, we kids aren't ham"ered as much when it comes to thinking about reasons why
not to do things. 6ids can be full of ins"iring as"irations and ho"eful thinking. 7ike my
wish that no one went hungry or that eerything were a free kind of uto"ia. (ow many of
you still dream like that and beliee in the "ossibilities? +ometimes a knowledge of
history and the "ast failures of uto"ian ideals can be a burden because you know that if
eerything were free, then the food stocks would become de"leted and scarce and lead
to chaos. 8n the other hand, we kids still dream about "erfection. #nd that's a good
thing because in order to make anything a reality, you hae to dream about it first.
In many ways, our audacity to imagine hel"s "ush the boundaries of "ossibility. For
instance, the 4useum of %lass in 0acoma, Washington, my home state 11 yoohoo
Washington9 2#""lause3 11 has a "rogram called 6ids :esign %lass, and kids draw their
own ideas for glass art. Now, the resident artist said they got some of their best ideas
through the "rogram because kids don't think about the limitations of how hard it can be
to blow glass into certain sha"es; they <ust think of good ideas. Now, when you think of
glass, you might think of colorful ,hihuly designs or maybe Italian ases, but kids
challenge glass artists to go beyond that into the realm of broken1hearted snakes and
bacon boys, who you can see has meat ision. 27aughter3
Now, our inherent wisdom doesn't hae to be insider's knowledge. 6ids already do a lot
of learning from adults, and we hae a lot to share. I think that adults should start
learning from kids. Now, I do most of my s"eaking in front of an education crowd,
teachers and students, and I like this analogy: It shouldn't <ust be a teacher at the head
of the classroom telling students, 5:o this, do that.5 0he students should teach their
teachers. 7earning between grown u"s and kids should be reci"rocal. 0he reality,
unfortunately, is a little different, and it has a lot to do with trust, or a lack of it.
Now, if you don't trust someone, you "lace restrictions on them, right? If I doubt my older
sister's ability to "ay back the -/ "ercent interest I established on her last loan, I'm going
to withhold her ability to get more money from me until she "ays it back. 27aughter3 0rue
story, by the way. Now, adults seem to hae a "realently restrictie attitude towards kids
from eery 5don't do that, don't do this5 in the school handbook to restrictions on school
Internet use. #s history "oints out, regimes become o""ressie when they're fearful
about kee"ing control. #nd although adults may not be quite at the leel of totalitarian
regimes, kids hae no, or ery little say in making the rules, when really the attitude
should be reci"rocal, meaning that the adult "o"ulation should learn and take into
account the wishes of the younger "o"ulation.
Now, what's een worse than restriction is that adults often underestimate kids abilities.
We loe challenges, but when e!"ectations are low, trust me, we will sink to them. 4y
own "arents had anything but low e!"ectations for me and my sister. 8kay, so they
didn't tell us to become doctors or lawyers or anything like that, but my dad did read to
us about #ristotle and "ioneer germ fighters when lots of other kids were hearing 50he
Wheels on the &us %o )ound and )ound.5 Well, we heard that one too, but 5=ioneer
%erm Fighters5 totally rules. 27aughter3
I loed to write from the age of four, and when I was si! my mom bought me my own
la"to" equi""ed with 4icrosoft Word. 0hank you &ill %ates and thank you 4a. I wrote
oer >// short stories on that little la"to", and I wanted to get "ublished. Instead of <ust
scoffing at this heresy that a kid wanted to get "ublished or saying wait until you're older,
my "arents were really su""ortie. 4any "ublishers were not quite so encouraging, one
large children's "ublisher ironically saying that they didn't work with children 11 children's
"ublisher not working with children? I don't know, you're kind of alienating a large client
there. 27aughter3 Now, one "ublisher, #ction =ublishing, was willing to take that lea" and
trust me and to listen to what I had to say. 0hey "ublished my first book, 5Flying Fingers,5
11 you see it here 11 and from there on, it's gone to s"eaking at hundreds of schools,
keynoting to thousands of educators and finally, today, s"eaking to you.
I a""reciate your attention today, because to show that you truly care, you listen. &ut
there's a "roblem with this rosy "icture of kids being so much better than adults. 6ids
grow u" and become adults <ust like you. 27aughter3 8r <ust like you? )eally? 0he goal is
not to turn kids into your kind of adult, but rather better adults than you hae been, which
may be a little challenging considering your guys' credentials 27aughter3. &ut the way
"rogress ha""ens is because new generations and new eras grow and deelo" and
become better than the "reious ones. It's the reason we're not in the :ark #ges
anymore. No matter your "osition or "lace in life, it is im"eratie to create o""ortunities
for children so that we can grow u" to blow you away. 27aughter3
#dults and fellow 0E:sters, you need to listen and learn from kids and trust us and
e!"ect more from us. ?ou must lend an ear today, because we are the leaders of
tomorrow, which means we're going to be taking care of you when you're old and senile.
No, <ust kidding. No, really, we are going to be the ne!t generation, the ones who will
bring this world forward. #nd in case you don't think that this really has meaning for you,
remember that cloning is "ossible, and that inoles going through childhood again, in
which case you'll want to be heard <ust like my generation. Now, the world needs
o""ortunities for new leaders and new ideas. 6ids need o""ortunities to lead and
succeed. #re you ready to make the match? &ecause the world's "roblems shouldn't be
the human family's heirloom.
0hank you. 2#""lause3 0hank you. 0hank you.