THE IMPORTANCE AND APPLICABILITY OF PHILOSOPHY FOR CHILDREN IN TODAY'S SOCIETY

Abstract

Should Philosophy be made accessible and applied to children? In what way can Philosophy for Children help children/youngsters to think better? How can we learn to think? This article shows what Philosophy for Children is meant to be, pointing out its real impact in a society where we increasingly find children and youngster gravitating towards “standardized” [“patterned”] behaviours, opinions, attitudes, and values, who lack their own opinions, don't want to waste time thinking, and without the awareness of how important thinking is to their lives, thus stifling the natural curiosity that is a quality of every human being, and so are alienated from society's real consciousness. It is necessary to predispose children and young people to stop and think, to know how to listen and make themselves heard, to contemplate the unknown with serenity and to enjoy it as something wonderful and undiscovered. Philosophy can be applied to children. We must put the natural and spontaneous restlessness of children to use. Philosophy for Children can aid children and youngsters in developing their reasoning, can teach them to think how to think better, leaving them more critical, argumentative, creative, inquisitive, introspective and with their own opinions.