The future of families: four discoveries that change everything by George Carey is an insightful talk describing how parenting methods have shifted fundamentally from parents. These shifts in parenting approaches have resulted in a change in how parents lead children to follow. George starts the conversation by projecting two different pictures which parents had been asked to select from (TEDx Talks, 2016). The first image shows an elephant’s calf leading the way with the mother on his tail. The second image shows little ducks following the mother through the waters. Carey takes on the elephant’s image and how it is winning in modern society. George describes the shift in the family decision-making process and how children have been involved in decision-making on issues affecting the entire family.
The best part of this presentation is the issue of mental health on whether kids are developmentally ready to engage in this participation. Do children have the relevant emotion control skills to deal with certain decisions that come up? Are the kids prematurely leaving their premature kid thoughts to associating with adult issues under the guidance of their parents (TEDx Talks, 2016)? The question to ask ourselves is whether there exists any relationship between this type of parenting and the increased mental problems experienced among the youths. These cognitive issues among the children include depression, anxiety, suicide, and self-injury.
In his presentation, George presents findings of a detailed survey in 2000 on what kids spent their time engaging their minds compared to what the same kids in a similar setting were thinking about in 2014 (TEDx Talks, 2016). In 2000, the kids were thinking of spending more time with friends, while in 2014, they were thinking of their future, war, school, and dying (TEDx Talks, 2016). The general take from the video is that we should not push children in adult functions and decision-making processes that require a fully developed brain.
Reference
TEDx Talks. (2016). The future of families: four discoveries that change everything | George Carey | TEDxNaperville[Video]. YouTube.