Carrie in PA
11-09-2006, 06:24 PM
This does relate to this board, I promise....
I was reading my son's history book with him today, about Ancient Greece. We read about the Athenians and how they valued culture and education. They wanted to produce well-rounded citizens and women were expected to care for children and for their homes. I can picture the mothers valuing and nurturing their children because they seemed to be interested in the well-being of the individual so as to make an interesting, educated, productive society.
The Spartans, on the other hand, were not at all interested in the individual. The most important thing was the city-state (Sparta) and being ready for war. Baby boys were looked at as future soldiers. Young children were not comforted at all because it was thought they would become "soft". There were no comforts, no nurturing. Children (boys, because girls were of little use except to bear children someday, like with the Athenians also but at least they were taught to be good mothers and care for their children) were forced into indepenedence very early, leaving the home at age 7 to begin military training. It was a very harsh society with no nurturing, no comforting, one-size fits all, for the "greater good" approach to life.
It just got me thinking about the parenting camps today. I got chills reading of how the Spartan women would not comfort their children for fear of their becomming "soft". They needed to learn to be tough and fend for themselves. It seemed so strikingly familiar with certain approaches we all know of. Of course, no one we know would send off their children to prepare for the military at age 7, but some do demand a lot of unrealistic maturity and independence in young children. And there are those that believe (and teach) that too much comforting "spoils" children. It just makes me wonder about the roots of such modern parenting trends. Whose example are we following? It's really pretty scarey.
Just my rambling thoughts.... :shrug
I was reading my son's history book with him today, about Ancient Greece. We read about the Athenians and how they valued culture and education. They wanted to produce well-rounded citizens and women were expected to care for children and for their homes. I can picture the mothers valuing and nurturing their children because they seemed to be interested in the well-being of the individual so as to make an interesting, educated, productive society.
The Spartans, on the other hand, were not at all interested in the individual. The most important thing was the city-state (Sparta) and being ready for war. Baby boys were looked at as future soldiers. Young children were not comforted at all because it was thought they would become "soft". There were no comforts, no nurturing. Children (boys, because girls were of little use except to bear children someday, like with the Athenians also but at least they were taught to be good mothers and care for their children) were forced into indepenedence very early, leaving the home at age 7 to begin military training. It was a very harsh society with no nurturing, no comforting, one-size fits all, for the "greater good" approach to life.
It just got me thinking about the parenting camps today. I got chills reading of how the Spartan women would not comfort their children for fear of their becomming "soft". They needed to learn to be tough and fend for themselves. It seemed so strikingly familiar with certain approaches we all know of. Of course, no one we know would send off their children to prepare for the military at age 7, but some do demand a lot of unrealistic maturity and independence in young children. And there are those that believe (and teach) that too much comforting "spoils" children. It just makes me wonder about the roots of such modern parenting trends. Whose example are we following? It's really pretty scarey.
Just my rambling thoughts.... :shrug