Ageism is an ever-increasingly popular terminology. Discrimination based on someone's age. Usually this is applied to the older population. However, child-psychologists, and cognitive specialists have also brought to our understanding that children are our biggest victims of ageism.

It is still a widely accepted idea that children are dumb. That they need to have every single thing explained to them. But, back when I was a kid the theory was a widely accepted fact: babies are born as blank slates that need filling in.

Our parents LOVED this idea because this meant a baby was something they could program, something that would agree to whatever they said.

It was so hard for me as a child, to ask a question and then watch as I was completely ignored. Why? Why won't they answer me? Why is she smiling at him? I must be doing something embarrassing. No I was asking smart questions that they didn't consider possible for a child. It embarrassed them bc they couldn't respond to me as they would an adult. Kids get "cute, happy" answers. Everything has to be fluffy and magical for kids. If a kid asks something hard it gets ignored. Because kids arent supposed to be grown-up smart. ESPECIALLY GIRL CHILDREN!!!

Please do some research if this is new and it intrigues you, but what I've felt to be true my whole life has now gotten real scientific backing behind it. WE WERE BORN INTELLIGENT.

From the moment of birth and (most likely) further back we have a base-level of intelligence. It's called Emotional Intelligence. A baby knows that it is loved by the smiles. A baby knows that something is bad from gaping mouths and frowns. A baby knows fear from darting eyes and anxious movement. We have a much fuller understanding of the world, our place in it, what is expected of us, and how others perceive us at a much younger age than what we originally thought.

Take a look at young animals. I got 3 sister kittens who will be 2 years old Feb 12th 2021. I watched them grow and develop. I watched 5 week old kittens formulate complicated chase scenarios with fake-outs and deception. I saw 5 week old kittens figure out physics problems. They spoke to me, not with words, but with tones and expressions. And if FIVE WEEK OLD KITTENS can do all that, then what can babies do?

When we were kids the breaking was just part of child-rearing that wasn't taught in books, but was passed on once the kids got old enough to cause a headache. It was routine in almost every house in America to drag a young child in front of a group of adults and scream, argue, force to entertain, humiliate, or abuse the child. There wasn't any defense for us. When the whole family is ganging up it is just normal, there's no help, there is no escape. They make you explain your feelings, they tell you everything is wrong. Not because it is, but because we were children, and children can't know these things. So they broke us into little pieces. We learn to stop fighting. We learn to stop thinking. We learn to stop feeling. We learn to look to the adults to tell us what we should think so we won't be hurt anymore. We learn to be part of the group screaming at the toddler. We aren't bad, we are helping them understand, is what we tell ourselves. We forget how much it hurt, how we never meant any harm when we were young, how we were just trying to understand. We tell ourselves they are deceitful and they need punishment to learn.

Once the child has had their will broken they are now the "perfect" child. A quiet, dopey little ducky that will only do what they know is safe. No more will the parents need to worry about some scary rebellion. No more will there be a worry of looking stupid in front of the child, because the child knows they are the dumb ones and anything that might cause fear, anxiety, frustration, or annoyance could easily be brought back on the child. "DONT YOU TALK TO ME LIKE THAT! DONT YOU LOOK AT ME LIKE THAT! DONT BE A SMARTASS!"

It's like a hands-free lobotomy.

And it's one that we all went through at one point.

My spiritual journey started by these realizations. That I fear every person will yell and berate and humiliate me for any comment I make. That people are just waiting for their chance to hurt. I am not a child any more. You cannot hurt me like you did back then because I am big, I am strong, and I can yell and shake and punch just as well as you can. So you better step back and let me say what I want and you can say your peace as well.