by Rebecca Weinstein

Created on: January 19, 2009

We are most certainly raising our children in a programmed world, but it is unfair to presume that all parents are trying to program their children. More important than answering the question put forth in the title of this article is to beg the question, for WHAT are we programming our children? The answer is simple: to become productive members of society. However, the means to that end can differ.

A parent may fill every waking moment of their child's life with enriching activities meant to mold their child into that productive member of society. This parent may have school, followed by soccer, followed by dance, followed by music, followed by gymnastics, followed by swimming...all in the name of bettering the child; producing the well rounded child. It also produces a stressed out child with an overloaded schedule who in turn, will become a stressed out, overloaded adult. She will be a productive, "Type A" personality member of society capable of multitasking and cramming for deadlines.

A parent may choose one or two activities and leave the rest of the week open for outside play, video and computer games, or play dates. This less harried child will also benefit from the activities, becoming a well rounded child. However with this model, the child will be less stressed and will have an appreciation for time slots that are not filled with structured activities. In turn, it will create a productive, "Type B" personality member of society who may also be capable of multitasking and cramming for deadlines.

Each of these children will then in their own lifetimes raise their own children in much the same manner as they were raised. As you can see, each of these children were raised in a programmed world, and programmed to become productive members of society. It is easy for me to say that I am not raising my child to be programmed, as I take the second approach in raising my child, but what am I trying to teach her? What do I want her to become? I want her to become a productive member of society, someone who will hopefully go to college, although she most certainly does not have to; someone who will eventually have a job and be able to support herself; someone who appreciates the arts and the simple things; someone who will be happy and successful in life. So it is that I AM raising my child to be programmed in a programmed world. It is in our nature to do so, whether we believe so or not.

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