Del Derecho Natural a la Pedagogía

por | Nov 17, 2015 | Solar Antiguo | 5 Comentarios

De una carta de John Lukacs a George Kennan:

«I start with what you write about your problems with your children […]. I think that in these times of the dissolution of an entire epoch in the history of a civilization, the most intimate and personal relationships are affected: those between men and women, husbands and wives, parents and children. That is no source of comfort. The children who break away from us nowadays – not only in the normal and expectable way at a certain stage of their lives: by breaking away I mean their abandonment of those standards of behavior and ways of life we think are properly good and proper for them – do not this with that happy, thoughtless and often arrogant optimism which is a natural mark of the young leaving the old. Our children in these times are not really happy, not thoughtless and seldom arrogant. They do not think that their parents’ old fashioned standards are not good for them. To the contrary: they feel that they themselves are not up to them […].

This is surely sad, but there are three consoling elements. The first is that things are never as bad (or as good) as they seem to us. The second is that unlike other generations in the past, they love and respect their parents deeply – precisely when these parents possess old-fashioned standards and virtues. It is therefore that we must continue to impress them with our own convictions, together with our concern and love for them (note that i write together with, not tempered by). This is why you must not worry about your «certain special vulnerability and lack of elasticity in your reactions to them». That may be indeed an asset for them – not because it is identical with the older traditions of discipline but because it will furnish them with the inner sense of a constant reminder».

Daniel Capó

Daniel Capó

Casado y padre de dos hijos, vivo en Mallorca, aunque he residido en muchos otros lugares. Estudié la carrera de Derecho y pensé en ser diplomático, pero me he terminado dedicando al mundo de los libros y del periodismo.

5 Comentarios

  1. Unas reflexiones muy útiles para todos los padres que empezamos a tener hijos en la preadolescencia. Firmeza en las convicciones y cariño en la forma de transmitirlas. Son inevitables, a veces, gritos y malas caras. Es desagradable pero no dramático. Lo realmente peligroso es el silencio prolongado.

    Responder
  2. En realidad siempre educamos con nuestras convicciones o con nuestra falta de convicciones. Se expresan en nuestros actos cada vez que actuamos espontáneamente.

    Responder
  3. It is certainly true that “things are never as bad (or as good) as they seem to us”, but that leaves one little to go on. I suspect that were Lukacs writing his letter in today’s cultural environment he might be less reassuring about how deeply children love and respect their parents and their standards of behavior. Certainly recent events on American college campuses call this into question. Perhaps Kennan himself said it best: “What is being done to our country today is surely something from which we will never be able to restore the sort of country … I have known.»

    Responder
  4. Las observaciones de Lukacs a las preocupaciones de Kennan sobre la conducta de los hijos son muy perceptivas. Muchas veces no nos percatamos que somos demasiados exigentes con nuestros hijos y esperamos más de ellos de lo que ellos se exigen así mismo. No obstante, creo que Lukacs está correcto en pensar que nuestras exigencias y amor les servirán de guía en sus vidas. Nuestro amor y el de ellos no cambia, pero el contexto de nuestras vidas sí.

    Responder
  5. Pienso que lo que Lukacs pretende señalar es que educar desde la totalidad de nuestras convicciones supone sobre todo «creer» en alguien, confiar en esa persona. Crecer, madurar exige creer en uno mismo, pero al mismo tiempo uno no aprende a confiar si previamente alguien no ha confiado en ti. La confianza nos construye, lo cual exige, en efecto, firmeza, afecto y paciencia. Y, en última instancia, también aceptación.

    Responder

Trackbacks/Pingbacks

  1. Servidores del Estado | El blog de Daniel Capó - […] –Carta de John Lukacs a George Kennan. […]

Enviar un comentario

Tu dirección de correo electrónico no será publicada. Los campos obligatorios están marcados con *

Obra

Share This