359: Let the children lead?

P&C drink and review Geralt's Gold, a no-alcohol Helles brew, then discuss how our views of children have changed. In the latter half of the 20th century our culture turned away from the previous "seen and not heard" attitude and tried to be more interested in what children say. We also started to be obsessed with childrens' feelings and their self esteem. P&C don't remember anybody caring about their feelings, their self esteem, or whether they were anxious when they were young. It's as if we're teaching children to have mental problems. In the modern environment, the most unruly kid sets the agenda for the classroom because the teachers and principals can't do anything to them. This has evolved into the modern "gender" confusion, which seems to have no end of foolishness. Now we have "gender minotaurs" and other ridiculous concepts. But it's not just "gender." The anti-straw hysteria was invented by a nine year old who made up phony statistics that the media swallowed whole. And then he did a TED talk. Nobody thought to check it. I guess the children were leading.