We say that kids and teenagers are rude, don’t listen, hard-headed but that’s not true at all. They have come to know years of elders not paying them attention, asking their opinion, or supporting in any meaningful way and so youth are actually quite smart to quickly shut down and “yeah yeah” their way through conversations because they know they will never be heard. Now if they are lucky enough to attend higher education levels (this is assuming that attending university is beneficial) and even luckier to be put in front of a professor that asks them to participate or what they think, they continue the path of least resistance of nonchalant participation because at this point it is too late to stimulate the I Matter muscle or if they do want to finally be heard they literally do not possess the language/self love/critical thought/openness/consciousness that is necessary to actively and lovingly participate in their education. This also becomes a factor in their family life, workplace, community, what they consume, and how they think about themselves as being worthy to even have a choice.
Redefining the Meaning of Children