When working with children sometimes I think there’s a “Brave New World” aspect to things that come up. Many examples come to mind, mostly related to the use of technology (e.g., Google Classroom, artificial intelligence, etc.).
A recent Brave New World experience hit me that had nothing to do with technology.
One of my favorite kids, 9-year-old Brody, started talking to me about his sense of “ennui.”
When he used the word “ennui” I almost fell off my chair.
“Ennui!!!!” I almost shouted. Having never heard an adult, let alone a child, use the word “ennui,” I joked with him that I was “gobsmacked” with his use of the word. (He didn’t know what that meant, of course, so I explained it.)
“Where’d you learn that word?” I asked Brody.
“It’s in the movie ‘Inside Out 2.’ Have you seen it?” he asked.
Not in touch with any popular culture, I sheepishly told him I didn’t know of it.
He then explained how the movie labels emotions within the main character.
“So, do you think you have ennui?” I ask.
“Maybe sometimes. But, I think I’m pretty exuberant, sometimes too exuberant – it gets me in trouble,” he tells me. (An interesting word that he also learned from “Inside Out 2.”)
Separately, there was 8-year-old Angie who stated she thought she was “depressed.”
While not falling out of my chair, I was taken a bit aback, as she never struck me as depressed.
“Why depressed? What’s that about?”
“Well, sometimes I get a little sad,” Angie told me. “Maybe I’m depressed.”
These conversations made me reflect on children labeling of these emotions. Most mental health professionals would probably cheer a child’s ability to utilize these words to describe feelings.
My only pushback is that I wonder whether we are over-clinicalizing (not a real word) childhood.
Is it better for children to be thinking about “ennui” and/or “depression” or is that taking them away from their primary job – that is to just be a kid?
(I understand it was a totally different era, but I don’t think I considered ennui or depression when I was scuffing around with other kids.)
I honestly don’t know how I feel about this topic and would welcome your input.
Is it a good thing for kids to be using words like “ennui” or “depression” or is this another example of growing kids up too soon?
We never baby-talked with our children. Today, all 5 children have a wider vocabulary than my wife and me. One word I remember them learning while still in school that I learned when I was in my 50s is lackadaisical.