MAP Forum

A society grows great when old men plant trees in whose shade they shall never sit.

This old phrase (among others) is what keeps me moving forward.
I don't expect to see the world change quickly or even in my lifetime, but that's fine. My time horizon is to build a better future for my children and their children.

What if my child or grandchild is gay? What if they are a map? I don't want them to deal with the unjust treatment that many maps have to deal with today.
Or what about their children and their rights as children? I want those future children to feel heard, respected, empowered, not kept reduced as they are today. One part of the challenge is the drawbridge mentality of people. My eldest daughter is very political and has been since she was young. As young as 8 she would ask about the environment and why people treat animals and the world the way that they do. We'd discuss politics and government and that seemed to fire an interest in her. By 11 she was engaged in these ideas more strongly and would come home and tell me about political discussions she'd had at school and this only grew as she went through her teen years.

At 14 she was annoyed that she had no vote because she had strong opinions, as did some of her friends. They'd debate issues at school and she wanted a voice at the voting booth. By 16 she was still angered that she had no voice. But one thing I noticed is at each age she felt that was the right age to get the vote. At 11 she argued that this was when people should get the vote, then it was 12, 13, 14, 15, 16. How easy we look down on those below us, as long as we are heard. I think this is a human problem, whether it's voting rights or age of consent or anything, we always feel we have the right to speak but not those below us.

So back to the expression at the top. I think empowering children is something worth fighting for, as is building a world safe for everyone, including maps. We all deserve respect, whether we're a child, a map or anyone else.

CantChainTheSpirit wrote: Thu Jan 01, 2026 6:25 pm At 14 she was annoyed that she had no vote because she had strong opinions, as did some of her friends. They'd debate issues at school and she wanted a voice at the voting booth. By 16 she was still angered that she had no voice. But one thing I noticed is at each age she felt that was the right age to get the vote. At 11 she argued that this was when people should get the vote, then it was 12, 13, 14, 15, 16. How easy we look down on those below us, as long as we are heard. I think this is a human problem, whether it's voting rights or age of consent or anything, we always feel we have the right to speak but not those below us.

So back to the expression at the top. I think empowering children is something worth fighting for, as is building a world safe for everyone, including maps. We all deserve respect, whether we're a child, a map or anyone else.

I've been reading a lot about Native American's and their culture. It was a much different way of living, much more communal and non-competitive, non-hierarchical. One which values children and their voices, at least so they say, it's hard to know for sure without having been there. A way many indigenous cultures live.

I wonder if it's a human problem then or one of our culture. While we are officially non-hierarchical, we are trained to be highly competitive, individualistic and to judge those around us. Someone who is rich and/or well educated is supposed to be valued more than someone who has not "made it" in life. Much less a homeless person. But should we not see value in each person and value love, relationships and community over money?

Children get even more of the brunt of the lessons in learning to judge others. The are segregated in age at school and in many sports. They are segregated from adults (except for a chosen few) and many may never encounter an adult who treats them as an equal. They learn to judge themselves based on achievements (good grades, trophies) and others based on similar criteria. I've seen children at a playground challenging each other to solve math problems or read certain signs to "prove" their superiority. How can we expect those children to grow into anything but teens/adults who feel superior to those who are younger, it's what they've seen done to them all their lives. Ironically those children are demonstrating that they probably haven't learn a much more valuable life skill - kindness, compassion, understanding that everyone has unique strengths and weaknesses.

But that's what they see society as valuing. No one is tested and graded for their emotional understanding of younger children, it's academics that are drilled, tested, graded, praised and rewarded - judged. Later college is much the same. It's only when they enter the workforce as adults that they may realize companies value emotional intelligence and communication skills at least as highly as they value academics.

I think empowering children is one of the most important fights of our time.

To me that starts at the youngest ages and kids know what they want and need - it's ironically the adults who tell them they are wrong and get it wrong themselves. Kids want freedom, autonomy and especially free time to play, explore and yes learn with other kids. They don't want to sit with a pencil and paper - starting as young as 3 or even younger in some academic preschools - and learn academic skills. They don't need to either, there's substantial evidence that our endless focus on academics and starting kids younger and younger is harming their development. A kid can learn to read at 7, 8 or even older - there's plenty of evidence that it happens and makes no difference in the long term (as long as they are in a flexible learning environment). But they miss out on key brain development that can only be obtained through play with other kids if they are forced to sit and practices academics (or sit in front of a tablet).

wildly wrote: Thu Jan 01, 2026 9:34 pm I've been reading a lot about Native American's and their culture. It was a much different way of living, much more communal and non-competitive, non-hierarchical. One which values children and their voices, at least so they say, it's hard to know for sure without having been there. A way many indigenous cultures live.

I wonder if it's a human problem then or one of our culture. While we are officially non-hierarchical, we are trained to be highly competitive, individualistic and to judge those around us. Someone who is rich and/or well educated is supposed to be valued more than someone who has not "made it" in life. Much less a homeless person. But should we not see value in each person and value love, relationships and community over money?

Children get even more of the brunt of the lessons in learning to judge others. The are segregated in age at school and in many sports. They are segregated from adults (except for a chosen few) and many may never encounter an adult who treats them as an equal. They learn to judge themselves based on achievements (good grades, trophies) and others based on similar criteria. I've seen children at a playground challenging each other to solve math problems or read certain signs to "prove" their superiority. How can we expect those children to grow into anything but teens/adults who feel superior to those who are younger, it's what they've seen done to them all their lives. Ironically those children are demonstrating that they probably haven't learn a much more valuable life skill - kindness, compassion, understanding that everyone has unique strengths and weaknesses.

But that's what they see society as valuing. No one is tested and graded for their emotional understanding of younger children, it's academics that are drilled, tested, graded, praised and rewarded - judged. Later college is much the same. It's only when they enter the workforce as adults that they may realize companies value emotional intelligence and communication skills at least as highly as they value academics.

I think empowering children is one of the most important fights of our time.

To me that starts at the youngest ages and kids know what they want and need - it's ironically the adults who tell them they are wrong and get it wrong themselves. Kids want freedom, autonomy and especially free time to play, explore and yes learn with other kids. They don't want to sit with a pencil and paper - starting as young as 3 or even younger in some academic preschools - and learn academic skills. They don't need to either, there's substantial evidence that our endless focus on academics and starting kids younger and younger is harming their development. A kid can learn to read at 7, 8 or even older - there's plenty of evidence that it happens and makes no difference in the long term (as long as they are in a flexible learning environment). But they miss out on key brain development that can only be obtained through play with other kids if they are forced to sit and practices academics (or sit in front of a tablet).

You make many very good points that are very persuasive, I think you are correct here.
It might seem a human condition from the perspective of someone inside the western system that values wealth and power over other qualities and which categorises people rather than values the qualities of each individual.