What are we teaching our children?

This blog is different from the others I have written. I wrote this several months ago and never posted it. I was about to delete it, when I decided to read though it first. I changed my mind and decided to post it instead. Take it for what it is worth.

What are we teaching our children?

As I watched the presidential "debates", I was nervous and uneasy. Not necessarily because of the crucial effects this election will have on our country, but because of the social interaction implications.  I was uneasy due to the interrupting and almost yelling that took place.

Pragmatics is the social interaction involved with language: how something is said and the appropriate timing of what is said. It involves turn taking in regard to conversation. That turn taking displays respect of the person on the other side of the conversation.

Our young people who were exposed to the presidential "debates" witnessed a shouting match, not a debate. Formal debates have set rules that are agreed upon and closely followed by both sides. Our next generation is being subjected to negative pragmatics. Either consciously or subconsciously, they received the message that in an argument, it is alright to interrupt and raise your voice to make your point. The candidates did it. Our young people will think because the presidential candidates did it, it must be an accepted way to respond to adversity.

In our culture today we are loosing the aspect of respect rapidly. The form of interactions where yelling and interrupting is the norm, as displayed in the "debates" as well as on many talk shows on television,  is sending the wrong message to our young people. Respect doesn't interrupt or yell to make a point. Respect and clear communication involve active listening, allowing the other side to finish making their point, clarifying, and waiting for the appropriate time to respond.

Today many young people and even some adults already believe that if they say something loud enough and often enough, it becomes a fact. Arguing disrespectfully is becoming acceptable. Authority is becoming whoever is able to yell the loudest while ignoring everything and everyone else.

We must display, for the next generation to observe, proper pragmatics so that our children will have the tools to work through differences of opinion and be able to problem solve with respect for the views of others. If we continue on this downward spiral of diminishing pragmatics and lack of respect, in a few generations we will be back to clubbing each other over the head like cavemen to solve our problems.