We are stepping aside from our normal programming of martial arts as of late to bring you this...
There is a dangerous trend emerging regarding how we protect
our young people from disappointment and failure.
It’s evident within the academic system. Schools have begun
to "place" students in grade levels even though they never passed its prerequisite. This is an effort to limit their exposure to
failure.
The number of problems with this is too many for a short
conversation.
We need to prepare our children for the real world. Reality
doesn't consider how you might feel before it beats you down with
its harshness.
By restricting the degree of failure all we are doing is
failing to prepare our children for real life.
In sports there is a trend towards not keeping score, with a
no winners or losers mentality. All this will succeed in doing
is suppressing the natural desire to excel or be good at
something. Competitive nature is the backbone of progress. The want
drives the doing. The majority of technical and mechanical improvements have
come to fruition due to the unyielding persistence of people always
believing they can do better.
This would not be possible in a society
where mediocrity is rewarded undeservedly. If society was
complacent with how things were, we would still be walking everywhere. We
would not have begun riding horses, and most certainly would not have
invented the automobile.
This trend is pushing us to a "perfect" or Utopian society. This is a slippery and dangerous slope. If you have read "OurViolent Nature", you will understand why forcing people to go against our
nature can become a problem. Hollywood has provided examples of failed
attempts to pacify society. It always ends badly. As an experiment,
make an effort to not show aggression, disappointment, drive,
frustration, anger, or excitement for one week to one month. Take note of
how long you actually last.
We all know that it is unhealthy to suppress your emotions,
especially anger. This leads to explosive and unpredictable outbursts
that are often uncontrollable. The Utopian societies we are shown in
movies all resolve the emotional problem with behavioral modification.
One form used is pharmaceutical. Sound familiar? Antidepressants are
used daily in our society. There are other ways, better ways, to treat
mental conditions that don't rely on drugs.
What I am getting at is we need to stop turning our children
into emotional time bombs. They need to fail in school to learn
that if you don't dedicate yourself to passing, you will not pass.
Failure teaches you more than being placed into a grade you didn't earn.
School is supposed to teach the value of hard work and preparation.
School is also supposed to prepare kids for life in the real world.
We wonder why our children act so spoiled and deserving. We
wonder why they believe everything in life will be handed to them.
Well, it is OUR fault. We accepted their lack of motivation. We allowed
the school to place them in a grade that they didn't earn. We are passing up an opportunity to teach our children that to try and fail isn't
the end of the world. We can teach them to try harder, prepare more,
get emotional, and pass that class on your own. Failure teaches
much more than success.
The most successful people in the world are experts on
failing. Sport gives yet another lesson in determination and hard
work. We teach that it’s ok to lose as long as you try your hardest
to win.
Losing teaches us that it’s much better to win; teaches us
to prepare harder, and strive for more. Losing gives us the opportunity
to teach our children that sometimes you win, sometimes you lose, but
you never quit. Sports teach us to get back up when knocked down.
In short, expect more from your children than society and
your academic system. Raise them to succeed and stand on their
own. This will ensure they are well adjusted and able to appropriately
deal with life's disappointments. This will ensure that future
generations will reduce the amount of suicides and mass shootings. We are
creating monsters by not challenging their emotions and intellect.
I'm sure the powers that be would love a society that would drag their
emotionless bodies into a monotonous job each day; employees that were
happy with the bare minimum and would never strive for more for fear of rejection. In essence drones or worker bees. Put your children in activities that they can succeed at
with hard work; activities that capitalize and challenge their natural abilities. This could be art, soccer, football, MMA, or kungfu. The list is literally endless.
It’s up to you to help your children find what they excel at
and provide them with the opportunity to do so.
Siu Lum Canada is Winnipeg's Shaolin school. We teach the Siu Lum style of kung fu. Our training revolves around real life situations and real life solutions. There is no question that we will not answer.
Watch our video and get a glimpse of what we do at Siu Lum Canada.
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Email us at siulumkungfu@gmail.com
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