Seeing the Magic in your Children and Parents all over Again
A sneaky little teaser before all the magic of Gallifrey 2016 is posted. Photos and videos are trickling in from many points in the universe and while I await their arrival I’ve been processing the beautiful experience that took place in the halls of the Marriott.
Science crosses every boundary. It has crossed and progressed over oceans of time, there are scientists of every age, every gender, every ethnic background. Science doesn’t discriminate; it will let anyone with an open mind and a patient heart discover its secrets. For me, I just watched Science cross generations.
Kids from 7-17 and parents from 20 something to 50 something created polymers, smashed geodes, spun hex nuts in orbit, and brought electron movement to copper wire and a battery. No one was the adult and no one was the child; everyone shared ideas and worked as a team. Science and an open mind showed children the best of their parents and parents the potential within their children. Science leveled the playing field.
And laying in my hotel room reading surveys later that evening I discovered something extraordinary: the children who loved science the most and indicated that they might want to be in a Science field when they grew up ALL were introduced to Science outside of the classroom. By a parent, an aunt, or a family friend. Kids introduced to Science outside the classroom appear to have a greater bond to science. Why? I don’t know. More data is required.
Perhaps it is because children have a chance to earn one on one time and respect from adults when they spend time discovering science together. Maybe it is because the science are so engaging that kids and parents forget the be embarrassed by one another, they aren’t fighting for control.
My grandfather is a geologist. He is a professor. I grew up in geology camps, high altitude hikes, and discovering tide pools. One of my favorite possessions is the gift of my grandfather’s microscope that was his as a child. Sure it’s obsolete, but not for my heart it isn’t. I longed for time with my grandfather; he never sat around reading the paper telling or on his phone telling me that he was too busy for me. He always was willing to show me the layers of rocks or how the physics of water create oxbows in rivers. I remember seeing him long and lanky stretched out on his couch reading The New Yorker magazine, a marmalade tabby paper weighting him to the furniture and every time I asked what he was reading, he always taught me something. My grandfather made me feel important and valued. It wasn’t by what he said. It was by what he did. He taught me about the planet, how it works and what it is capable of. He taught me why marble makes amazing furniture but how limestone does not. The first time I went into a palace in Europe, I was more impressed by the marble pillars than the art. I never remember fighting with him; I never remember being made to feel dumb.
Science bonds. Pun intended. When you can’t reach your children any other way. When you’ve lost connections with your aging parents. When you’ve got a teenager not speaking to you or an 8 year old that doesn’t understand math or English or fights memorizing history dates… try Science. You don’t have to be a professor to do this. Science is in every part of life. Cooking, sewing, mechanics, house keeping, gardening…Find an experiment online. (Or email me; I’ll help find something personalized for you). Take a walk in nature. Hit up a discovery museum. Take off the mantle of parenthood and become a lab partner. Team up with your children and you’ll see things in them that will spark a deep burning excitement for what your child is truly capable of. I promise. I just saw it happen.
I wrote an article called “To the Stars Through Doctor Who” or how kids are being lost from science and how we can get them back. But I found something else out too-we can get back bonds and closeness with the people we love through science. Because science doesn’t have an agenda and it doesn’t discriminate. It just lets us discover everything about the world around us…and within us.
