Women are servants of men, have no rights. Children should be seen not heard. Certain races are not human and therefore subject to slavery. Certain religions are supreme and thus any act can be justified (ie war, crusades, genocide, etc). Nuclear fallout isn't any big deal (Bikini island experiments). Petroleum will last forever (muscle cars and American lifestyles). We live in a geo-centric universe.
The above ideas, and so very many more, have proven to be archaic. I would offer that, likewise, we will some day see that we did not take something else to heart: the potency of infancy. By this, I mean that the ages of birth to five are such significantly formative years! What does the world do about this knowledge?
Well, there are a few products out there (of course, if money can be made...) that supposedly stimulate the brain, engage the senses or motor skills. There are special cribs, gyms, toys...for older babies, there are CD's and DVD's that are sure to make a child smarter by exposing them to Mozart, etc.
Other than these stray product-oriented leanings, our culture does little. In the US, lucky parents are given a "generous" six weeks to get back on their feet after a child is born. (In some European nations, it ranges up to two years!) Our schools are still geared to industrial revolution standards of workforce development. We drop kids in daycare or kindergarten without a second thought...and have you seen what passes for "educational television" these days?
If we put the attention on those first five years, what could come of it? If we pressed like we did with the space race in the 1960's or the fear-driven new millennium (remember the threat of computers crashing?)...if we were thoughtful and intentional in our lifestyles and careers to put more and more spin, emphasis, and love into rearing children--what would the world be like later?
Regardless of whether there's any truth to the claim that we learn the most in the first 5 years, we'd still be generating kids that knew love and had respect ladled on them. One of my colleagues said that's what's wrong with the current generation, that they were so pampered and "loved" that they now feel entitled to always get "A's" and have the mentality they can do no wrong. I am not at all arguing to envelop kids in a bubble of warm-fuzzies. I am urging us to stand our culture on its head, to take infancy seriously. I really wonder what could come of it?
It's a conviction I have, yet I sit here at work twiddling my thumbs while my kids, my investment, go fallow. *sigh*
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I have to disagree with your colleague. I don't think parents spend enough time with their children. I understand that at least one parent has to work to provide for the family, I am not saying that is bad. I think kids have entitlement issues because the parents do. Most people work so hard to have things so they can enjoy the good life that they completely miss what is most important. It is better to have little money and few possessions than to have a lot of money, a big house, the newest car, a boat, then fail to spend time with your children. Children can never be shown enough love. What is wrong is some parents do not discipline their children and then wonder why their children grow up to become criminals.
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