Hi, I’m Jaeda and for my very first project in Social Responsibility, I’m doing an Inquiry with the question, ‘How does the country a child is raised in affect their childhood, and their values and beliefs into adulthood?’
This question is a point of interest for me because of my background. I’m Kenyan ethnically, both my parents, my grandparents, my great-grandparents, and so on were born and raised in Kenya. I on the other hand, was born in Canada and I have lived here my whole life, visiting Africa occasionally. Obviously, life is very different in Kenya then it is here, the governments are different, the culture is different, the way of life is different. Sometimes a little thought pops into my head; ‘What if I was raised in Kenya?’. I think it’s a really interesting thing to think about because there are so many factors; Would I act differently?; Would my values or beliefs be different?; Would my opinion on some topics change?. Yes, they are just wandering thoughts, but they’re also something I’m genuinely interested about and would like to research.
Another reason I want to do this Inquiry, is because I have an interest in children. I can see a childcare based job as a future career and I have done a lot of volunteering with kids in the past. I’ve always loved kids, they have this zest for life that I find we tend to lose as we get older; learning about the world and gaining more responsibility. I also find childhood development really interesting; the thought that how you grew up, with what parenting techniques, in which country, with different influences can shape you so drastically is fascinating. The whole Nature vs. Nurture debate, what things are you already genetically equipped to think and do, vs. what things are you taught throughout you lifetime is so complicated, and difficult to answer, I really enjoy how there are so many variables and facets to it. Finally, it would be really cool and helpful to learn something I could use to help kids and parents that I work with in the future. All in all, I’m excited to research a topic new and engaging to me, and hopefully others too.
Thank you for reading, and can’t wait to start inquiring!
