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2008年被美国媒体誉为"世界上最聪明的孩子"
3岁时开始阅读各种书籍
4岁时开始用笔记本电脑写作
8岁时出版12万字的故事集《飞扬的手指》
【演讲文稿完整版】
Thank you.
Then again, who's to say that certain types of irrational thinking aren't
exactly what the world needs? Maybe you've had grand plans before, but stopped
yourself, thinking: That's impossible or that costs too much or that won't
benefit me. For better or worse, we kids aren't hampered as much when it comes
to thinking about reasons why not to do things. Kids can be full of inspiring
aspirations and hopeful thinking, like my wish that no one went hungry or that
everything were free kind of utopia. How many of you still dream like that and
believe in the possibilities? Sometimes a knowledge of history and the past
failures of utopian ideals can be a burden because you know that if everything
were free, that the food stocks would become depleted, and scarce and lead to
chaos. On the other hand, we kids still dream about perfection. And that's a
good thing because in order to make anything a reality, you have to dream about
it first.
In many ways, our audacity to imagine helps push the boundaries of
possibility. For instance, the Museum of Glass in Tacoma, Washington, my home
state -- yoohoo Washington -- (Applause) has a program called Kids Design Glass,
and kids draw their own ideas for glass art. Now, the resident artist said they
got some of their best ideas through the program because kids don't think about
the limitations of how hard it can be to blow glass into certain shapes. They
just think of good ideas. Now, when you think of glass, you might think of
colorful Chihuly designs or maybe Italian vases, but kids challenge glass
artists to go beyond that into the realm of broken-hearted snakes and bacon
boys, who you can see has meat vision. (Laughter)
Now, our inherent wisdom doesn't have to be insiders' knowledge. Kids
already do a lot of learning from adults, and we have a lot to share. I think
that adults should start learning from kids. Now, I do most of my speaking in
front of an education crowd, teachers and students, and I like this analogy. It
shouldn't just be a teacher at the head of the classroom telling students do
this, do that. The students should teach their teachers. Learning between grown
ups and kids should be reciprocal. The reality, unfortunately, is a little
different, and it has a lot to do with trust, or a lack of it.
Now, if you don't trust someone, you place restrictions on them, right. If
I doubt my older sister's ability to pay back the 10 percent interest I
established on her last loan, I'm going to withhold her ability to get more
money from me until she pays it back. (Laughter) True story, by the way. Now,
adults seem to have a prevalently restrictive attitude towards kids from every
"don't do that," "don't do this" in the school handbook, to restrictions on
school internet use. As history points out, regimes become oppressive when
they're fearful about keeping control. And, although adults may not be quite at
the level of totalitarian regimes, kids have no, or very little, say in making
the rules, when really the attitude should be reciprocal, meaning that the adult
population should learn and take into account the wishes of the younger
population.
Now, what's even worse than restriction is that adults often underestimate
kids abilities. We love challenges, but when expectations are low, trust me, we
will sink to them. My own parents had anything but low expectations for me and
my sister. Okay, so they didn't tell us to become doctors or lawyers or anything
like that, but my dad did read to us about Aristotle and pioneer germ fighters
when lots of other kids were hearing "The Wheels on the Bus Go Round and Round."
Well, we heard that one too, but "Pioneer Germ Fighters" totally rules.
(Laughter)
I loved to write from the age of four, and when I was six my mom bought me
my own laptop equipped with Microsoft Word. Thank you Bill Gates and thank you
Ma. I wrote over 300 short stories on that little laptop, and I wanted to get
published. Instead of just scoffing at this heresy that a kid wanted to get
published, or saying wait until you're older, my parents were really supportive.
Many publishers were not quite so encouraging. One large children's publisher
ironically saying that they didn't work with children. Children's publisher not
working with children? I don't know, you're kind of alienating a large client
there. (Laughter) Now, one publisher, Action Publishing, was willing to take
that leap and trust me, and to listen to what I had to say. They published my
first book, "Flying Fingers," -- you see it here -- and from there on, it's gone
to speaking at hundreds of schools, keynoting to thousands of educators, and
finally, today, speaking to you.
I appreciate your attention today, because to show that you truly care, you
listen. But there's a problem with this rosy picture of kids being so much
better than adults. Kids grow up and become adults just like you. (Laughter) Or
just like you, really? The goal is not to turn kids into your kind of adult, but
rather better adults than you have been, which may be a little challenging
considering your guys credentials, but the way progress happens is because new
generations and new eras grow and develop and become better than the previous
ones. It's the reason we're not in the Dark Ages anymore. No matter your
position of place in life, it is imperative to create opportunities for children
so that we can grow up to blow you away. (Laughter)
Adults and fellow TEDsters, you need to listen and learn from kids and
trust us and expect more from us. You must lend an ear today, because we are the
leaders of tomorrow, which means we're going to be taking care of you when
you're old and senile. No, just kidding. No, really, we are going to be the next
generation, the ones who will bring this world forward. And, in case you don't
think that this really has meaning for you, remember that cloning is possible,
and that involves going through childhood again, in which case, you'll want to
be heard just like my generation. Now, the world needs opportunities for new
leaders and new ideas. Kids need opportunities to lead and succeed. Are you
ready to make the match? Because the world's problems shouldn't be the human
family's heirloom.
Thank you. (Applause) Thank you. Thank you. |
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发表于 2017-1-10 16:34:45