Let Them Be Heard
Have you ever heard the adage: “Children are to be seen and not heard”? I grew up with this command, not as a mere suggestion, for most of my childhood and even sometimes heard it even as an adult. Looking back on it now, I wonder if some of that reasoning wasn’t just because of my age but also because I was female. As women, we are taught to be subservient and to listen before responding, whereas men are allowed to react or respond loudly and it is considered “assertive” and “commanding” but if a woman does the same then she is overstepping or too emotional. We are conditioned to make ourselves small.
Lately, I’ve observed this type of behavior directed toward our younger generation. They are told in no uncertain terms by many older adults that they don’t know and don’t have enough experience to understand, so they should essentially be quiet and do what this elder says. I disagree. Why do we condemn the young for being just that, young? Why do we assume they know nothing? By putting them essentially in a corner they learn nothing and if I have learned anything in my almost half a century being alive it is by making mistakes that we learn. And I make A LOT of mistakes! But this also means that those mistakes are moments that I have learned something valuable. We should not stifle anyone’s opinion or beliefs. Yes, they may be looking at a topic from a completely different perspective that some may think is wrong, but is it? Just because someone has a different opinion does not mean it is not valid. Teenagers are also considered to be inexperienced because they have not lived long enough to know. I don’t think this is the case at all. Teens now don’t have to “experience” something firsthand to understand. They have the world at their fingertips, something inconceivable for many of our older generations. Don’t you remember being told by a parent or elder that they don’t want you to repeat their mistakes so that’s why they set certain rules or shared certain experiences with you? Same with technology and this new generation. They don’t have to do it themselves to understand and even if they do, so what? Why not give them the benefit of the doubt. It’s their first time at this game called life.
By making these so-called children be quiet, they never learn to have their own voice. They never learn how to advocate for themselves. I still don’t know how to do that very well, and I think it is directly related to being told pretty much my entire life that I needed to be quiet. Why are we suffocating our new generation’s voice? They have every right to their own opinions and there is nothing wrong with them standing up for what their own ideas. Let them shine their light. We might learn something from them.
Our generation learned that “You can’t put Baby in a corner,” so let’s not do that to this younger generation. Let them stand out; let them be heard; let their light shine.
