Monday, April 07, 2008

Raising Geeky Kids

A comment from a good friend got me thinking about how geeky our kids are. Being an avowed geek myself, I'm not surprised that my kids upbringing is full of geekness.

They've learned to read early and they know their way around a computer. They watched and enjoy the Star Wars films. We like the animated Justice League. They play Scrabble, Monopoly and Lego and enjoy going to the library.

I guess the geeky things we tend to like when growing up, our own kids end up liking as well. So, what's geeky for us is just normal for them.

But, I do want them to do do more things to break out of the geekness, so to speak. There's actually a video on the net featuring Gever Tulley and 5 Dangerous Things You Should Let Your Kids Do and I'm actually seriously considering doing some of them. It's quite interesting and the talk is more about safety than anything else. In today's world where everything is labeled unsafe for kids, there are things one can do to educate the kid.

1. Play with fire.
2. Own a pocket knife.
3. Throw a spear.
4. Deconstruct appliances.
5. Break the DMCA
6. Drive a Car.

The video presents really interesting ideas that allow kids to do explore more of their world in ways that seem to be labeled "unsafe" by most.

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