TED成年人能从孩子身上学到什么

Now,I want to start with a question : when was the last time you were called childish ? For kids like me , being called childish can be a frequent occurrence . Every time we make irrational demands , exhibit irresponsible behavior , or display any other sighs of being normal American citizens , we are called childish , which really bothers me . After all , take a look at these events : Imperialism and colonization , World Wars , George W. Bush . Ask yourself : Who’s responsible ? Adults . Now , what have kids done ? Well , Anne Frank touched millions with her powerful account of the Holocaust , Ruby Bridges helped end segregation in the United States , and , most recently , Charlie Simpson helped to raise 120,000 pounds for Haiti on his little bike . So , as you can see evidenced by such examples , age has absolutely nothing to do with it . The traits the word childish addresses are seen so often in adults that we should abolish this age-discriminatory word when it comes to criticizing behavior associated with irresponsibility and irrational thinking . Then again , who’s to say that certain types of irrational thinking aren’t exactly what the world needs ? Maybe you’ve had grand plans before , but stopped yourself , thinking : That’s impossible or that costs too much or that won’t benefit me . For better or worse , we kids aren’t hampered as much when it comes to thinking about reasons why not to do things . Kids can be full of inspiring aspirations and hopeful thinking , like my wish that no one went hungry or that everything were free king of Utopia . How many of you still dream like that and believe in the possibilities ? Sometimes a knowledge of history and the past failures of Utopian ideals can be a burden because you know that if everything were free , that the food stocks would become depleted , and scarce and lead to chaos . On the other hand , we kids still dream about perfection . And that’s a good thing because in order to make anything a reality , you have to dream about it first . In many ways , our audacity to imagine helps push the boundaries of possibility . For instance , the Museum of Glass in Tacoma , Washington , my home state , has a program called Kids Desigh Glass , and kids draw their own ideas for glass art . Now , the resident artist said they got some of their best ideas through the program . Because kids don’t think about the limitations of how hard it can be to blow glass into certain shapes . They just think of good ideas . Now , when you think of glass , you might think of colorful Chihuly desighs or maybe Italian vases . But kids challenge glass artists to go beyond that into the realm of broken-hearted snakes and bacon boys , who you can see has meat vision . Now , our inherent wisdom doesn’t have to be insiders’ knowledge . Kids already do a lot of learning from adults , and we have a lot to share . I think that adults should start learning from kids . Now , I do most of my speaking in front of an education crowd , teachers and students , and I like this analogy . It shouldn’t just be a teacher at the head of the classroom telling students do this , do that . The students should teach their teachers . Learning between grown ups and kids should be reciprocal . But reality , unfortunately , is a little different , and it has a lot to do with trust , or a lack of it . Now , if you don’t trust someone , you place restrictions on them , right . If I doubt my older sister’s ability to pay back the 10 percent interest I established on her last loan , I’m goin to withhold her ability to get more money from me until she pays it back . True story , by the way . Now , adults seem to have a prevalently restrictive attitude towards kids from every “ don’t do that , ” “ don’t do this ” in the school handbook , to restrictions on school internet use . As history points out , regimes become oppressive when they’re fearful about keeping control . And , although adults may not be quite at the level of totalitarian regimes , kids have no , or very little , say in making the rules , when really the attitude should be reciprocal , meaning that the adult population should learn and take into account the wishes of the younger population . Now , what’s even worse than restriction is that adults often underestimate kids abilities . We love challenges , but when expectations are low , trust me , we will sink to them . My own parents had anything but low expectations for me and my sister . Okay , so they didn’t tell us to become doctors or lawyers or anything like that , but my dad did read to us about Aristotle and “ Pioneer Germ Fighters ” when lots of other kids were hearing “ The Wheels on the Bus Go Round and Round ” . Well , we heard that one too , but “ Pioneer Germ Fighters ” totally rules . I loved to write from the age of four , and when I was six my mom bought me my own laptop equipped with Microsoft Word . Thank you Bill Gates and thank you Ma . I wrote over 300 short stories on that little laptop , and I wanted to get published . Instead of just scoffing at this heresy that a kid wanted to get published , or saying wait until you’re older , my parents were really supportive . Many publishers were not quite so encouraging . One large children’s publisher ironically saying that they didn’t work with children . Children’s publisher not working with children ? I don’t know , you’re kind of alienating a large client there . Now , one publisher , Action Publishing was willing to take that leap and trust me , and to listen to what I had to say . They published my first book , “ Flying Fingers , ” and from there on , it’s gone to speaking at hundreds of schools , keynoting to thousands of educators , and finally , today , speaking to you . I appreciate your attention today , because to show that you truly care , you listen . But there’s a problem with this rosy picture of kids being so much better than adults . Kids grow up and become adults just like you . Or just like you , really ? The goal is not to turn kids into your kind of adult , but rather better adults than you have been , which may be a little challenging considering your guys credentials , but the way progress happens is because new generations and new eras grow and develop and become better than the previous ones . It’s the reason we’re not in the Dark Ages anymore . No matter your position of place in life , it is imperative to create opportunities for children so that we can grow up to blow you away . Adults and fellow TED sters , you need to listen and learn from kids and trust us and expect more from us . You must lend an ear today , because we are the leaders of tomorrow , which means we’re going to be taking care of you when you’re old and senile . No , just kidding . No , really ,we are going to be the next generation , the ones who will bring this world forward . And , in case you don’t think that this really has meaning for you , remember that cloning is possible , that involves going through childhood again , in which case , you’ll want to be heard just like my generation . Now , the world needs opportunities for new leaders and new ideas . Kids need opportunities to lead and succeed . Are you ready to make the match ? Because the world’s problems shouldn’t be the human family’s heirloom .