Too Immature to be Mature

Well add this incident to the list of reasons why one can fear for the future of the human race. Apparently Bahiyyah Khalilah felt it was a good idea to hold her 20-month old daughter on her lap while driving thus allowing her to steer while she worked the brakes and gas. Needless to say, the inevitable happened and the car ended up crossing the median and hit an oncoming pick-up truck head on. Miraculously, Khalilah and her daughter got off with minor injuries and the two occupants of the truck were taken away to local hospitals for broken bones, lacerations, and other injuries.

Police report that there are some discrepancies as to why Khalilah had the baby on her lap in the first place but in essense, she claims that the baby became fussy so she pulled over and changed the diaper and then decided to let the baby steer while she worked the gas and brake. This brings me to my point. There are lots of parents out there who have a lot of faith in the geniuses that are their progeny. Most any parent you talk to will speak of their child with wonder and delight and gladly regale you with tales of how smart they are, how well they're doing in school or what their latest achievement was in sports. They will tell you about how mature they are for their age and how they are destined for great things.

On the whole, that may be true, but if every single claim of this type was the truth, we'd live in a perfect society because these kids would come in and show us adults how to lead our lives smartly. Unfortunately, such real geniuses are few and far between and the vast majority of kids out there are your normal, every day average Joes. What's the point I'm trying to get at? Well, I'm not saying that Khalilah allowed her daughter to drive because she is a genius or that she's smart enough to drive, but something somewhere must have motivated her to make that idiotic decision to have her kid drive. And in a lot of cases, I think it's because parents want the best for their kids no matter what the cost is. Many parents noblely want more for their kids than they themselves ever had and they never want them to be denied the experience of something new. In this case driving at the age of 20-months.

I personally don't see the point of risking life and limb for the sake of pride or to coddle a crying kid. I was fortunate to have parents who always pushed me to try my best and experience all that I could and I know they thought that both my brother and I were exceptional, as all parents naturally do, but I don't think there were ever occasions where they took a decision to put not only us, but those around us in danger. For example, in my martial arts class, we use swords. When we first start out, we are taught to use a wooden sword that represents the actual blade. As we progress in style and experience, we move to using unsharpened metal swords before finally beginning to use a real sword for practice in cutting bamboo and straw mats. For most of the kids who join this class, they are interested in primarily one thing, using the real sword. But let me tell you, some of these kids, I wouldn't trust them with a plastic butter knife let alone a real sword.

I have seen some wild ones in my time and though martial arts are meant to instill a sense of maturity and honor in kids, it is not a substitute for actually ingraining maturity in a child. Many parents sign their kids up after reading about how martial arts are a means of maturing kids and that once they attain a black belt, they will be mature adult-like entities. Unfortunately there are many martial arts schools out there that will basically teach you what you need to know to go through the motions so that you can get your black belt. Does this method do anything for the maturity of a kid? Not really. There are those who understand the meaning behind martial arts, or driving, or other responsibilities and there are the others (the majority) who look to only the bragging portion of it. My kid can drive even at the age of 2. My six-month old is a black belt in Tae Kwon Do.

For the sake of parents pride in their kids, we often end up having nothing more than boasting rights. Are we that insecure that we have to put our kids up on pedastals and make them much more than they actually are? All kids want to experience everything but there are the right times and places for all such things. Letting a 20-month old drive a car because she is fidgeting and is insisting that she be allowed to drive is foolish. Why stop there? As a kid I always wanted to fly a plane, if adults had given in to my every whim and fancy back then, the population of this world would certainly be a lot smaller today. Your kid may be so mature at a young age that Paris Hilton could learn a lot from him or her but that doesn't mean they are ready for everything. Especially not driving an automobile in public.