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What are few tough questions you faced so far from a KID
It's another discussion on my KID series , I already few on KIDs on threads below , where some thoughts of TED community are there
http://www.ted.com/conversations/1535/why_kids_lose_curiosity_in_the.html
http://www.ted.com/conversations/1568/what_about_having_ted_kid.html
http://www.ted.com/conversations/2841/how_should_kids_curiosity_be_h.html
Being naive and curious , kids often come up with very simple but challenging questions.
Was wondering do those questions has got any specific pattern , depending on the culture , society , country they grow up ? Or there are some common basic tough questions as well.
It would be great if share following
1) What are few tough questions you faced from KID/s?
2)What were your answers if you had given one ?
3) Do you think those answers were sufficient meet the curiosity ?
4) What could be a better answer if you think now the answer gave was not good enough?
Well let me give a recent example of such question......
Why countries fight each other ?
I answered sometimes in some country there are bad people , who fight..... by answering so, I found that was a dumb kind of answer as was bombered immediately more questions..........
Looking forward for your active participation............
Closing Statement from Salim Solaiman
It seems KIDs came up with challenging questions at least to them who contributed here may be it matters to them how to face those challenges of KIDs. Thankful to all the contributors.
Now a days as KIDs are far more expose to lot of information sources they can come with very difficult questions, which I faced many times. Kids being our future we need to handle those in a way , so their natural creativity or curiosity doesn't being impacted negatively, and also they get an unbiased fair answer, which should be right to each and every child of humankind.
As @ Debra said rightly as adults we shouldn't fall in the dificulties by giving or setting an example to KIDs which gives the message it doesn't matter if one talks and walks differently. That will highly impact KIDs morality negatively which no rational human being can do.
Wishing for a better tomorrow for Kids of today and tomorrow.........:)
Tony Kuphaldt 10+
I honestly cannot remember what I told her, but I think the hug I gave her in reply was appreciated more than any rational response.
Salim Solaiman 50+
Totally agree with you the "HUG" was the best response as anyone will feel helpless in such situation.
Amily shaw 10+
Salim Solaiman 50+
That proves we communicate more with our body language, tones of voice etc etc. How intelligent & sensitive your nephew is ! Really great , I am always amazed with kids power of underatnding !!!
I am also a bit confused how to communicate such abstract thing to a kid but may be they are capable of understanding that as well.
My 6+ son asked questions like as below different times
How universe looked like before it was formed?
Do god still making planet? (was confused with this , as previous question tried to explain scietifically , now he came up with something different !)
How tornedo forms ?
Why titanic sank ?
I tried to give a scientific explanation in a simple way (not sure , whether really could), but asked him did he understand what I said. He told "YES"
Amily shaw 10+
sounds like your son asked many good questions there;) and you were being a patient father making efforts to help him understand them. Very nice. and i wonder what he would tell you if you ask him to tell you back what he understood.
dose he draws pictures or dose other playings? usually vocabulary makes a challenge for kids to communicate or understand.
Salim Solaiman 50+
Yes I try to be patient with them as not all the time around & their mom says keep all your questions for your dad....
Everytime I explain , I ask him whether he understood or not, and got & YES asnwer. But your's is a good suggestion , next time will aske them to explain what they understood.
Well he is very much fond of drawing. Whenever he sees something intesting outside or on TV he draws,colors. Like to build different thing with blocks, even recently started making different thing by cutting papers...... Took him to beach , he started making sand castle.....
Asked him where he got those question in his mind , Cartoon or book they usually say.
Recently as I couldn't answer something I googled then they immediately started googling....
And asked is Googole always right ?
Another difficult question to answer as it alos bings junks.....
My elder son is now 9 and recently found he asks far less questions than usual , so thinking I never discouraged , why he stopped
But good to see he sometimes tries to answer to the younger .....
Amily shaw 10+
Glad to know that google now is sharing your work!
Muhammad Aizat Zainal Alam 30+
Salim Solaiman 50+
"Fathers of future, sleeping in minds, who are kids today"
Tried to translate the essence of one of the line of a poetry in Bangla...... you can tell him , defintely he will be but have to wait a bit :)
Muhammad Aizat Zainal Alam 30+
Salim Solaiman 50+
Muhammad Aizat Zainal Alam 30+
Shokrullah Amiri 10+
I am still not able to answer……………. .
Salim Solaiman 50+
Shokrullah Amiri 10+
They do copy immediatly. Children are cute, lovely and very very creative as long as we do not brain-wash children’s mind with existing systems and bad beahviours created and followed by current and previous generations.
As long as children’s do not know today’s solutions; they will surely find out new and better ones.
I used this comment in other conversation too.
Ronald Kimani
Ans: We couldnt cope... you know, we stopped being friends.
Little fellow walks up & down infront of me, as if expecting more, then when nothing else comes from me, he abruptly stops and asked me: Only that?
Ans: Yap!
End of chat- he's never asked that again. Guess I blew it.. !
In retrospect, I think it must have appeared like a very silly reason for two people to split up a family, you know, just because we stopped being friends... doesn't make sense to me either, now that I think about it, some 12 years down the line, seeing how we gained more respect of each other after the split..
So, if I was to be asked the same question again, I'd say we were both a little bit too stubborn, (thick headed is a better word) and stuck in our own ways to give the marriage what it really needed, ie, courage to face up to our own hangups, acceptance of each others uniqueness and the patience required to grow any friendship. I think we also lacked good counsel, but again, I wonder whether we'd have taken it in even if it had been offered.
But I also know deep inside that the answer that would be closest to the brutal truth is this: if I had the chance to do it all over again, I'd NOT have married his mum.
What I'm saying is that one needs to know when not to tell "the whole truth" to a child. When he's older and there's any wisdom to be gained by him hearing those words, then I will.
Salim Solaiman 50+
Yes some "brutal truths" as you coined properly is difficult to be explained to kids though they are probably most sufferer of those truths.
In some cultures couples just tolerate each other giving priority to their kids but thats again a masked relationship if not exposed and kids again suffer.
Don't know really which is better and how to make kids prepare for such situations.
Thanks for sharing, best wishes.
Paige Sullivan
What I meant was: It is not my place to answer that specific question as I am not THEIR parent and furthermore, I don't know exactly what I would have said as I am not A parent.
There ya go.
Gio Rana
Debra Smith 200+
Gio Rana
Debra Smith 200+
Salim Solaiman 50+
Well that's a tough question to be answered. Agree with Debra , getting the source of exposure is important to know but once exposed & asked it needs to be answered that's the challenge.
These days kids get come across many subjects or events because of TV as well, so we need to be on our toes........ unless we use the killer answer of "Don't Ask such silly /bad thing"..... How come they will know which question is silly / bad ..........?
Gio Rana
Comment deleted
Debra Smith 200+
Debra Smith 200+
Rosemeri Chaney
Salim Solaiman 50+
Ronald Kimani
But our jails are full of the ones that got caught.
Quite a mess that we end up creating..
Sometimes I think parents need to be supervised on how they do this parenting job. We assume we all have the skills just coz we can make babies, or coz we can legally adopt them. In normal situations, we would perhaps hesitate to qualify one as an expert just because they have a natural ability in a certain area or are able to utlize a right to gain a certain social status.
I was once adviced to always speak the trith but keep the language at the level that the child can understand, and when I hit a level that they can't, to be very sincere and respecful and tell my child that s/he will understand better when they are a little bit older. That worked for me when my kids were younger. These days they the ones who get embarrased when I ask questions.. :) HA!!Payback time!! Now I can do this for the rest of my or their lives... seems parenting does have its kicks after all.. :)
Salim Solaiman 50+
Agree what you said.
Muhammad Aizat Zainal Alam 30+
Why do women wear bras?? men and women have breasts but why only women wear bras???
Being a teen, I was not ready for those kind of questions.And coming from a child, I don't know how to explain it to him properly.My face went red and I simply said ; Why don't you ask mother if you want to know more about it...
How about it? Salim, how would you explain to him about the bra?
Salim Solaiman 50+
Good to meet you again.
Well at your that age , the question naturally came up with certain degree of uncomfortableness that you explained already.
.......... as your curious brother has good certain observation before coming to the question ..... which needs a realistic answer in appropriate way...
Guess now you also can explain the same in a better way , realistic way..............
Am I right ?
Muhammad Aizat Zainal Alam 30+
I know your a father Salim.How would you answer to him?
By the way, my name is Muhammad Aizat.Zainal is fathers name. ;)
Salim Solaiman 50+
Thanks for correcting me about your name, sorry for the mistake (it's cultural one)
Well let me give my hypothetical answer to a 6 year kid about his curiosity with bra....
First I would explain him gents and ladies dresses are different in many way , so the bra is a ladies under garment. Moreover I would also explain it's not an universal dress for ladies as men also don't have any universal dress i.e. some men use cap others not, even some man don't have a shirt to use as he can't afford , so it's a matter of choice as well.......
Even then if his curiosity evolves around breast and it's difference between men and women , I would explain the biological reason as ladies either were / are moms or they will be mom and for their babies they have different breasts than that of males......
Not sure hypothetical kid will be satisfied or not though...... what do you think ?
Muhammad Aizat Zainal Alam 30+
Paige Sullivan
1) How are babies made?
Well, when mommies and daddies love each other, they... I changed the subject to going out for a treat promptly after that. This answer obviously would have not satisfied an older child, but since then, the twins have not asked. I should have done something else rather than sheltering them, but what am I to say? I am not a parent of any kind.
Salim Solaiman 50+
That's an important point you came up with. Yes the questions evolves with the age of the kid and same answer can't satisfy them as they grow up , if they come up with it again in later age.
That is one of the most common questions I guess and we give varried answers depending on culture, societal perspective.
Well one can face question of kid even not being a parent.
I faced lot before being a father......Thanks for sharing :)