I wonder sometimes if we should try to create more (safe) situations where kids are spending time with younger kids.
Kids who have younger siblings kind of get this experience automatically. But not everyone has a younger sibling.
I think when a kid spends time with someone who’s, like, three or four years younger than them…they’re forced to recognize that sometimes they have to be the “adult in the room.” And that they have to be a caretaker, and be “the bigger person”, and be sympathetic to the needs of someone else.
I mean, I’m sure there’s all sorts of psychological benefits to spending time with people who are a variety of ages. But in this case specifically, I guess I mean that it’s easy to stay in your own head and only focus on your own wants and needs. Adults essentially are there to help you or structure your life with rules, even if you don’t fully understand their reasoning.
If a kid spends time with a younger kid…they might find themselves making rules like “hey, don’t run up the slide!” or “hey, don’t stick your fingers in that electric socket!” or “hey, don’t put that sharp stick in your mouth!” Now, maybe by epiphany, they’ll realize why adults make rules all the time. They do it to try to protect and help someone who can’t come to the same conclusions on their own.
In other words: by putting the older kid in a scenario where they have to help and communicate with someone who has less experience, less dexterity, less strength, less knowledge, less grasp on language than they do……it teaches the kid that in life, sometimes they will need to help others instead of being helped themselves.
To extend this idea to adults…
…maybe it’s beneficial for everyone to have a chance being a teacher, or a tutor, or a babysitter. Or maybe it’s beneficial for everyone who has a career to have a moment where they need to selflessly help someone who’s aspiring to that same career. An opportunity to put your own self-centered wants and needs out of your mind and figure out the right thing to say that will help someone who’s earlier in their journey.
I feel like when I’m surrounded by only people who are my “peers” or ahead of me, it narrows my empathy and my way of thinking. But by lending a hand to someone who needs help, and trying to carefully pick my words to figure out exactly what I should say to help them, it encourages me to be more patient and more empathetic.
But anyway…I don’t have any kids, so what do I know, hahaha.
