Future You Memo No. 2
Raising anti-fragile kids • Education in a native digital world • Esther Wojcicki podcast highlights
But first, some numbers….
50% - Nearly half of parents wish more postsecondary options existed. *
85 Million - 85 million jobs will be eliminated, and 97 million new ones created thanks to AI by 2025. (World Economic Forum)
53% - Around 53% of recent college graduates are unemployed or underemployed
Raising Antifragile Kids
“This is the tragedy of modernity: as with neurotically overprotective parents, those trying to help are often hurting us the most”
— Nassim Taleb, Antifragile: Things That Gain from Disorder
Parents want their children to make their own decisions, think for themselves, and solve their own problems. In reality, however, they are reluctant to give them independence because they fear that something will go wrong. This harms children over the long term.
Overprotected children can’t handle disappointments without adult intervention. Used to being helped, they get discouraged at the sight of challenge. They suffer from low self esteem, as they feel like they can’t do anything by themselves. Overprotection makes children feel entitled and fragile.
We want our children to be the opposite of fragile—we want them to be “antifragile”.
A term coined by author Nassim Taleb, antifragility describes things that become stronger when exposed to stress and randomness. Contrary to the fragile, which breaks when exposed to stress, the antifragile needs stress to thrive. Children grow stronger from facing challenges, moderate pain, and low-stake conflicts. They do best when given the freedom to fail and navigate through the ups and downs of life. Children are antifragile. It is our job as educators and parents to continue cultivating their antifragility by not intervening when they face moderate stress. Heck, we should push children toward moderate stress!
Read further with Ana Fabrega’s Fab Fridays
Digital native vs. digital immigrant
The earliest digital natives are now sending their own children to school. Today’s teachers, many of whom are digital immigrants—people who transitioned from an analog world to a digital one—must find ways to reach digital native students and their caregivers.
The great news is that digital natives want to learn. It’s just up to educators to help them succeed in finding answers while staying safe in a digital environment.
What Does it Mean for a Student to be a Digital Native?
What is a digital native? The term was coined by author Marc Prensky to describe a person who grew up surrounded by technology and is familiar with the Internet from an early age on. Today’s students are digital natives, and increasingly, so are their parents (and many of their teachers). This can be tremendously beneficial—for instance, when scheduling online learning or virtual parent-teacher conferences when in-person learning isn’t possible.
Non-natives could be considered “digital immigrants.” These are people who were born in the pre-digital world, but have since adapted to the Internet and everything that comes along with it.
The educational system structure was designed for that analog world. It was created and cemented before the Internet revolution. That’s why it’s important for teachers, whether they’re digital immigrants or digital natives themselves, to change the traditional approach to learning.
Continue reading at Waterford.org
Highlights: Esther Wojcicki on the Knowledge Project Podcast
Here are a few highlights from educator and author, Esther Wojcicki’s conversation with Shane Parrish on his Knowledge Project podcast.
The main way you’re rewarded at college is by regurgitating on tests, what it was that the professor said. And you’re not rewarded for thinking independently, you’re rewarded for following instructions.
You ruin empathy by not having an opportunity to interact with other people. When you interact with other people and you see how they feel and you see their emotions and then you can put yourself in their shoes, that builds empathy. And one of the things that I try to build into all my children and all my students is empathy. Empathy for those of us who don’t have everything that they need, empathy for people who have bad luck or get a disease or don’t have enough money to pay for things that they want.
Many kids today are more dependent, more afraid to make a mistake, they always have to check with somebody. And I see it in the college graduates and I see it when these people are actually in the real world. As employees, they are always afraid to make a mistake. They’re always looking for reassurance, “Yes, this is right. Keep doing it this way. Yes… ” The fear of failure is much greater now than it was before.
Listen to the whole Knowledge Project podcast