I know it sounds ridiculous and a little presumptuous to say that ‘there are things adults can learn from kids‘. But let us give it a shot and see what comes out of it. Let’s find out if those ‘little people’ can be better than us at anything, anything at all:
#1 Exploration
Kids are explorers by default. It's as if they are born certified tourists. All they want is to find out how things work i.e. Touching on a candle flame (this doesn't go well). I remember looking behind a TV to locate the evening news reporter on the national television. I couldn't believe how a big person could fit into something so small. That day I looked for that newsman all evening, I almost broke that 'sonic' tv. Many kids do that, curiosity.
When a kid goes to a new house, by the time they go back home, they'll have seen every room in that house, the kitchen, the boys quarter, rooftop, the laundry, the trash bin, and sometimes they check out the houses close by too on a quick invitation from the kids who live there. In that case hosting kids turn themselves into tour guides. No joke.
Adults on the other hand are inflexible. They stick to what they know, where they know, who they know. They don't bother to look around, to find things out. By the way, there's a word for that, 'comfort zone'. Did you know that approximately 70% of all the things adults know, they learn them in their childhood. Before growing up! Did you know that big companies, corporations, institutions and nations maintain an exploration department. It is just that they call it something else, 'research'. That's how important curiosity is.
#2 Fast connection
When it comes to making new friends, kids operate on a 5G connection while most adults operate on a 2G connection, some on 1G connection, the best are on a 3G connection. That's a 2G difference between kids and adults. I remember the first day I went to school, I went back home with 5 new friends. The next day they quadrupled to 20. Within one month the whole school was my friend. That's about a thousand students including some teachers. I didn't mention neighbors and their kids or the people we met on the street going to and from school. No joke, kids make friends that quick and it's real.
When you smile at a kid and they smile back at you, it's a done deal, you are friends. They can tell you everything about their life, they can play with you, they eat with you, they can share an apartment with you, they can split bills with you, they can give you a hand when you need help, they can do anything for you (exclude the adult stuff). All that just after one hour of meeting that kid.
Do you know how long it takes adults to be real friends with a stranger? To know how long, just count all the new friends you have made in this year. How many? It's either 1, for the best 2 and for the worst none except for old friends.
I'm not sure what exactly happens to people when they grow up, funny enough they don't really become better humane people. I don't know why! They become more fearful of each other, cynical of each other, judgmental of each other, competitive and terrified of each other's uniqueness. Yet this is what we loved as children, each other's uniqueness.
You could see a talented kid around the corner and you could run to them and begin playing with them. You could see a lonely kid in a corner and run to them and begin random conversations. You know what I'm talking about because that's how you met your childhood friends. Random and fast. I remember it like it was yesterday, when I was a kid, I knew every kid in the neighborhood and they knew me. Then I grew up.
Kid's 5G connection is not just about making friends, it is also about making decisions and choices. Unlike adults, kids don't take a month or a year thinking about something really important they have to do. no. It takes them a second and they know what they want, when they want it, how they want it, with who they want it with. It's simple and fast.
I remember at my high school, when all students would be hungry at lunch time, the lunch bell would ring and they'd hear it but 97% of the students did not budge. They remained as they were for another 30 minutes or an hour until someone in the school administration would come looking and begging. Remember deep down we wanted to eat but on the surface for some weird adult reason, we just could not take action.
But if that were kids and they are hungry, they don't wait for the lunch bell to ring. In fact, they can't wait for the lunch time, so they ring the damn bell before time and show up at the dinning hall early. Do you see the difference? Adults zigzag around things while kids prefer a straight line.
#3 Sharing it all
When a kid has something really cool, they can't wait to share it. If they get a new ball at night, they sleep awake eager to wake up the next morning to go kick it with friends and strangers. I remember when we were kids, when a stranger kid unknown to us before probably new in the neighborhood or first time at school would find us playing soccer, they needed no introduction. Immediately they jumped in the game and started playing.
Introductions would come in later after the game or when that kid scored a goal. Kids don't have this 'I have to know you first' mentality. no. Rather they have this, 'I want to see you first'. Show me what you can do then I will know you. That's kids baby! Nah mean?
Adults on the other hand, have phobia about sharing what they are good at or what they have in abundance. Even when adults are being paid for it, they still don't want to share it all. They hold something behind. I don't know why! The magical part is, sharing it all makes kids adorable and likeable by other kids and adults too.
Kids share with every one, including strangers as long as they are not 'enemy' (this is supposed to make you laugh). If you wanted to understand what inclusion means take your kid to a play ground they have never been to before, it won't take a minute before others include that kid in the game. On the other hand, with adults, to join a group of theirs, damn its hard. It requires weeks of preparation, months of approvals, etc. And most of the times it doesn't happen. But who loses? Perhaps, unlike kids, that's why adults are tortoise-slow at progress.
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..More to follow
Editorial/ Yewe Yewe
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