Biology Experiment

A kid’s eyes shine bright while opening his present. When he sees that his presents are clothes, his bright eyes suddenly turn dim. Kids are not known for hiding their disappointment. But give them a toy as a gift, and you’ll see a display of appreciation that could warm the cockles of any gift-giver. It seems that instinctively, kids prefer something that will engage his mind, not just something that will make him look good.

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For many children, God exists as a very big person whose mighty eyes watch for any wrong doing on the part of the children. This understanding was promoted by the kind of theology that existed for a very long time. The idea of the existence of God in many ways shapes childhood. There are things that children would never do, just incase they offend God. This shaping of children is not necessarily bad, because the Christian ideals that are set for these children do not have a destructive effect on the children. However, the children end up with an unnecessary fear. It is for this reason that the ideas of the existence of God should be taught with great caution (Alwin 1986, p. 68). The Christian culture has for a long time made children believe that God was not a friendly person because he is always willing to punish all those who did wrong, yet no one seems to do good at all, if the standards of God are anything to go by. This means that there is not enough understanding regarding the existence of God. Children need to be properly instructed on the ideas of God (Ariès 1962, p. 124). If one stops to ask what kind of childhood they would have had if the idea of the existence of a God that is somehow capable of seeing whatever we do, one would realize that a lot of things would be different. Children who are introduced to Christian ways do whatever they do, or avoid doing whatever they would wish to do on account of the will of God, as taught by Christianity. If Christianity was there, it means that those things would appeal to them. The danger of this kind of reasoning is that it induces superficiality. This is because; childhood is undergone as a duty, which must be accomplished in order to avoid the consequences that come with disobedience (Wood 1994, p. 47). However, anything that is done in order to avoid retribution is not done in freedom, and therefore in this way Christianity makes children to be superficial, not knowing the exact reason why they do what they do. This is not a good way of bringing up children because they grow in appreciation of superficiality. This already is not the essence of Christianity. In other words, childhood is not undergone through the use of reason as it ought to be. There are many ideas of God that are misleading, and which lead to indoctrination, but are taught to the children nonetheless. The effect of these as already mentioned is children whose faith foundations are shaky, which can in Christianity’s own terms be described as having been built on sand. It is important therefore, that whoever is responsible for the education of children do so in a way that does not leave them in a state of confusion. This is the only way that childhood can be a meaningful experience serving the purpose of preparing the children for a future that is also meaningful.

Conclusion

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