Kids Deserve more Credit (TED talk #2)

Based off of the TED talk by Adora Svitak: What Adults can learn from Children

Adora Svitak, a 12 year-old girl, gave a fantastic TED talk about how the world needs more childish thinking from adults, and how kids need big expectations that start with a reciprocal learning relationship between adults and children. One of her first points is that adults need to be more like children: thinking more positively and believing that anything can be done. I completely agree with this. Adults too many times give up on ideas or creativity because it seems too unrealistic or too unpractical. All new inventions come from a dismissed and seemingly-impossible notion. Like Sir Ken Robinson said, “creativity is educated out of people”, and since creativity brings so much to the world, it is imperative that adults start learning how to be more like kids. Children have much to offer the world. If a kid tries to speak up, sometimes the response is, “oh-that’s childish” or “you’re only a child!”. One of the points that she is trying to make is that kids need to be heard and not ignored. Adora Svitak is living proof of that. She is only a 12 year-old girl, and yet she is talking about world-problems that some people her age would not even understand.

She then gives an analogy about how a teacher should not just stand at the head of the class telling students what to do, but that the students should also teach the teachers. This reminds me very much of Mrs. Smith’s class. Multiple times Mrs. Smith says that she hates standing at the front of the class and lecturing. She believes in discussions and a more open learning environment, because then she learns from the students as well. Children have diverse perceptions to offer to the world, but most often they do not ever receive a chance to share them.

The next point that Adora Svitak makes is that children’s expectations are too low. When adults underestimate kid’s abilities they never rise to their full potential. A great point that she says is, “When expectations are low, trust me, we will sink to them”. It is the parent’s responsibility to take a chance and trust their child with high bars, and then see where that leads them. Children need someone to push them in the right direction, to help them become great. That is a tricky road though, since it is easy to control their path too much. Kids still need to make their own decisions, but sometimes what are best are high expectations so that we can rise to them.

Kids are the future. We are the generation that will be taking care of the current adults. We are the ones that will be making political decisions and coming up with new inventions, so isn’t it important that we are raised in the best possible way? Progress happens because each generation grows and develops, and learns something from the previous one. Opportunities are key, and are what really matters for the future.

Adora Svitak has a very successful presentation, and in the most part it was because she was prepared. She knew what to say (even though she had notecards) and connected all of her ideas together by relating it back to her opening paragraph. She told personal stories, which made it more interesting to listen to. She also did not use any ums or likes in her speech that would have detracted from the message trying to get across. She did use a Prezzi in her presentation, but it was not the main focus. The Prezzi just added to the presentation by giving the audience a visual image to go along with the talking. However, she talked very fast. Sometimes it was hard to understand her, and it would have helped if she had paused more in between transitions. At parts her speech sounded a little too rehearsed. By utilizing some humor she made some parts funny, but the majority of it was serious. Even though she was only 12, Adora Svitak had a presentation worthy of an old wise scholar because of the professionalism and rehearsal that was obvious when she gave her speech.