Christopher Burns
Monday, March 01, 2010
A few years ago, while sipping coffee at my favourite coffee shop in Fort Lauderdale, Florida, I overheard a conversation between a father and son. The two were talking business, particularly focused on the vicissitudes of the stock market. And although the youth revealed typical pre-teen traits, he displayed the mentality and maturity of a 30-year-old.
His sharp questioning and multiple perspectives on things were so exceptional that I did the unthinkable: I invited myself to their table. After I apologized for “parachuting” into the midst of their private tête-à-tête, I commended them, particularly the lad, on their encyclopaedic knowledge of the financial sector as well as for the strategic brilliance that characterized their conversation. Towards the end of the discussions, the youngster told me he had been following the market for about 18 months and that his dad taught him everything he knew about how businesses work, about the relationship between demand and supply and how consumer behavior can affect prices and choices.
COLEMAN… the presence of social capital is vital to the transfer of human capital from parents to children
[Hide Description] COLEMAN… the presence of social capital is vital to the transfer of human capital from parents to children
[Restore Description]
1/1
Stunned by his piercing intellect, practical intelligence and comprehensive response, I asked the predictable questions, “How old are you? And what do you want to be when you grow up?” Like the perfect “little big man”, he meditatively responded, “Ah, I am 11 years old. And when I grow up, I would like to be either an astronaut or a stockbroker”. His dad was a lawyer.
Undoubtedly, there are thousands of other similar untold stories and just as many
“little big men” in every nook and cranny of Jamaica. And while everybody does not possess the same interests or skills sets and might not understand all the minutiae of the financial markets, I feel great alliances can come from diversity of talents and interests, because even though our talents are unique they are equally harmonisable. A lot depends, however, on how we harness these resources, encourage parental activism, and how we approach long-term development of “the kingdom of the mind” as the late Professor Rex Nettleford was wont to say.
I relate the experience to emphasise the importance of family-based social and human capital honing and development which are essential to family bonding, building trust and achieving social stability. Two of the great things about family-oriented self-development are the transferability of the social stock and the prospects to push the trust barometer in the right direction - toward the wider society as a whole where conversion to economic capital is easier. I also relate the story because I feel it could motivate parents to start, or continue, to be fully involved physically, financially, emotionally and socially in their children’s lives, particularly during the transition to adolescence. For, without a doubt, this is one of the avenues through which the development of social trust, intellectual curiosity and ultimately, economic empowerment and social mobility can be achieved.
But it is not all about the children. Parents too should pursue steps to improve parenting skills, to expand “the kingdom of the mind” and to position themselves to learn new things while acquiring utilisable skills. And one way to do this is by developing and fortifying social and human capital within the home. Sociologist James Coleman posited, “The presence of social capital is vital to the transfer of human capital from parents to children. If the human capital possessed by parents is not complemented by the social capital in family relations the human capital of the parents becomes irrelevant to the child’s educational development.”
It is never too late to learn. Life is vibrant and regardless of one’s circumstances, vulnerability should not be automatically converted to helplessness. And, like educated consumers, educated parents are better able to help their children cultivate critical navigational skills and aptitudes, by collaborating with them to developing good social skills, trust, emotional intelligence, survival strategies and other useful skills that could help them meander through the tough terrains of life. There is no need fooling ourselves. Not all children want to be doctors or teachers. Some may want to be chefs, carpenters, and mechanics and so on, but every child should be given the encouragement, nurturing, nutrition and empowerment from parents and family to be the best they can be in any field they may choose.
If we are to help our children to achieve greatness and to realise their highest potential, then we must overcome certain cultural barriers - barriers that must be demolished and require small and incremental steps. For instance, unless conversations are potentially injurious to a child’s mental, emotional and social development, parents should not rebuke them because their thinking appears eccentric; because they disagree with a particular point of view; because they ask pertinent questions or challenge answers they deem inadequate. If a parent feels unprepared or insufficiently informed or qualified to deal with a child’s inquiry or issues, the parent should seek help or redirect the child to the appropriate resource. This could help them build trust, and as we know “trust” in this sense is synonymous to social capital - a significant feature in a child’s educational growth.
Although several years have elapsed since, one of the salient features from the father-son exchange that continues to pop up in my head is the obviousness of the strong bond by which their relationship was anchored. Therefore, I would urge parents to (a) stress the importance of education (b) establish expectations, (c) underscore enterprise and entrepreneurialism (d) help children understand economics (f) facilitate excellence, and (g) empower children to make decisions.
Education is fundamental to personal, economic and social growth and is such a permanent and relevant part of one’s being that it matters not that others might try to diminish or destroy the temple that houses it. These efforts are never successful because in the end knowledge is interred with its owner. That aside, parents should help their children set high expectations of themselves - from aspiring to accomplish the best to cultivating good manners and tolerance. This is imperative in defining benchmarks, taking personal responsibility and establishing self-evaluation mechanisms. Entrepreneurialism is vital to survival and economic empowerment. Too many kids and adults alike waste resources because they do not know how to harness or convert them into marketable commodities or services.
At some point, teach or expose your children to the principles of economics, as it could help them understand the concept of money and exchangeable value. This could be vital in helping to stem the flow of wealth from the already poor to the already wealthy - buying cheaper generic brands instead of brand-name products, and saving the difference could go a far way. Although it’s easy to achieve mediocrity, imbue in your kids the virtues of attaining excellence in everything they do or contemplate. Finally, the best way of developing “the kingdom of the mind” and of transferring and converting family-based social capital to economic capital is through empowerment. Empower your child to make choices and take decisions, teach them that mistakes are natural features of life from which they can learn and grow.
Back to Blog
