Blogpost 2: Critical Thinkers

Children are ignorant. Children are harmless. Children are innocent. Children are curious. Children are easy to deceive. And because of these, they are often misled and fooled by some abusive individuals intently through giving inaccurate information.

There was a time when I asked myself if how children can develop their critical thinking abilities so that they are not easily deceived by others. And luckily, by means of surfing in the internet, I saw this article entitled "Children's Critical Thinking When Learning From Others" written by Gail D. Heyman from the website PMC. According to this article, the ability to evaluate the statements of other people is the key component of critical thinking. Information gathered from others is sometimes incorrect and children must learn to reason critically. Children must know how to evaluate whether the statement is accurate and who, among the people around them, is the most reliable source to obtain facts and ideas.

"Prior research points to the value of social experiences that raise children's awareness of ways in which people can become misled by others." - Gail D. Heyman

The article stated that social experiences best shape the children's ability in critical reasoning. Social experiences would help them to understand and not to believe everything others tell them. Moreover, they should be encouraged to develop a promotional intent model which help them comprehend that marketing campaigns are designed to influence mental states and behavior by stressing out positive features of products and de-emphasizing negative ones. Adults also has a big role in discussing critical reasoning with children but it turns out that they do it in a strictly manner that neither help nor lead children's psychological insights.

I have also read this article "The Importance of Applying Critical Thinking to Children's

Learning" by Lisa Mabe at the website surry. According to this article, critical thinking is being used to help children learn to think more clearly, to question the world around them, and become better individuals and members of society. Children must be accountable for their learning and how they apply it to real life situations.

"Everything we teach young children becomes internalized, and as they learn, they model us, the educators, parents, and other adults in their lives." - Lisa Mabe

Adults must prepare children to be able to ask good questions, to identify problems in thinking as they analyze concepts, and be able to correct the problems that they find in order to stand and think for their selves. Furthermore, the biggest role adults could impart is to be a good model to children.

After reading the two articles, I have realized that Detective Conan contributes a lot in developing children's critical thinking abilities. Not to easily believe, be observant and be skeptical about statements provided and events happen around them are some morals that Detective Conan underscores.

Conan Edogawa together with his child friends unravels mysteries behind those stated lies of villains and other characters. They show characteristics such as being skeptical, critical and evaluative to what they have seen and heard. They portray good personality models that children could actually imitate for improvement of themselves.

There is no perfect way to educate all children. But children could develop their critical thinking abilities by letting them discover things with adults' proper guidance.