"Around 9 is a threshold age for metacognition, when a child begins to think about their own thinking. Looking back, I can see that year as the beginning of questions that have never left me."
"Throughout my childhood, the Vietnam War visited our house every day via the morning headlines and the CBS evening news. Body counts and 'our boys' in flag-draped coffins. It was so common it ceased to register at the kitchen table."
"In Mrs. Duvall's classroom, she asked a question. I gave a quick answer. She paused and asked, 'Does everyone agree?' Every hand but one went up for me. 25 to 1. The one student who did not agree was a girl. She was right."
Children learn early that agreement can feel safer than being right, leading to a conflict between belonging and clarity. Around age nine, metacognition begins, prompting questions about perception and truth. The impact of external events, like the Vietnam War, creates a state of hypervigilance in children. A pivotal moment in a classroom taught the importance of discernment, as one student's disagreement highlighted the value of individual truth over collective agreement.
Read at Psychology Today
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