📘 Part 3: Children and opinions

So, Rory, let's talk about children and opinions. At what age do children begin to have their own opinions?

Oh, gosh, probably from the moment of birth, really, when you think about it. And that first opinion is probably something like why isn't everyone giving me attention? And they express their opinion by crying a lot. But if we talk about children articulating more sophisticated opinions, it could perhaps be when they start to have a more well-developed grasp of language. So they can ask, like, why is this like, I think the sky is blue because blah, blah, blah. And it doesn't have to be a completely coherent opinion. But they do start to express these ideas.

Who has the most important influence on children's opinions, parents or friends?

Oh, gosh. Well, it shifts over time, really. As children get older, friends have greater influence over their decisions and opinions. It's part of development.

Should teachers ask for children's opinions in the lessons?

Well, I imagine they already make their feelings quite clear, but it shouldn't hurt to ask, since you're the adult making all of the decisions in the room. And you can always ignore ridiculous opinions when they're expressed. But some opinions could be quite insightful, for example. Possibly the reason it doesn't happen more often is that teachers don't have the time or the patience.

Let's talk about opinions in everyday life. Who do most young people discuss their opinions with?

Well, as I mentioned previously, this is probably closely connected with age. Parents are initially those who children most often share opinions with, just by virtue of proximity, and there's no one else to share their opinion with. And as more people are met and taken into consideration this circle of discussion should expand to include others.

There are situations when people should not give their real opinions. Would you agree?

Well, maybe where there's like a serious risk to someone's life or well-being. There's like the old expression you should live to fight another day. You don't have to win every fight or even every battle, especially if it's just going to hurt you without achieving anything. So that's one aspect. The social context can also dictate this. You know, you wouldn't say some terrible things to someone at their wedding, for example, or at least you shouldn't do that.

Does culture affect the way people express their opinions?

Well, we all use some kind of language to express ourselves, so that concept is fixed regardless of culture. The culture might dictate how the language is used. So, for example, like direct feedback on lessons in Eastern European or Asian cultures doesn't generate a lot of constructive feedback. Sorry, providing the opportunity for direct feedback doesn't tend to generate a lot of constructive feedback, because teachers are expected to exert greater control over lessons. By contrast, in more westernized societies direct feedback is given the opportunity to be expressed, and it is expressed. But when it's expressed, it's done so in polite terms, often to avoid offense. But it is at the same time expected to be taken into account or into consideration. So that's one way it could affect things.

Let's talk about opinions in today's world. Does social media have a great influence on people's opinions today?

Well, it certainly seems so, doesn't it? You can call people influencers when they have a certain level of, I don't know, social clout. I actually often wonder how much influence it really has compared to sources of influence in the real world, though. I mean, you could incite a riot on social media, but the social contract still prevents most people from going out and rioting, for example.

Do you agree that society needs more people who aren't afraid of expressing their opinions?

Well, I think that's crucial. In order to be able to articulate ideas about the world, you have to risk offending people by freely expressing yourself. I don't mean to say that we should say all the things that we have to say in the most direct or offensive ways possible, but there should be a place for people to air grievances and ideas. Otherwise, your society just can't function properly because it's only a select few individuals who have this ability or even no one at all. And then how are you supposed to know anything?

Is it hard to distinguish fact from opinion?

Sometimes, especially in circumstances where people phrase things in a certain way. Like they use weasel words or phrases like studies have shown, for example. And these go unchallenged because most people want to be polite and not say things like, oh, really? Well, which studies and where? This is probably in a minority of cases, though. I think most communication is open and factual so that people can operate. This is if we exclude certain politicians from the mix, of course. -