"Sharing is Caring"

Throughout our younger years, parents, teachers and children programs have been stressing and advertising "Sharing".  A famous children program "The Care Bears" in the early 1980's was known for its famous phrase "Sharing is Caring". If you ask me, I think sharing is overrated.  

Parents and kindergarten teachers are always emphasizing sharing for its benefit in a child's character. A child who shares is a good natured child. The more children share the more likely they are to get along. When a kindergarten teacher evaluates a child, they comment on whether the child is a good team player or not. Kids who share are most likely to have higher team spirit then kids who don’t like to share. Another thing is, when children are sharing, it is easier to handle them. They would all be huddled together and playing peacefully.  Last but not least, sharing is less costly. It is more expensive for kindergarten schools and parents to buy each child a toy, so sharing is the best alternative.

"Sharing" is not as great as what parents and teachers claim it to be. Most sharing incidents result in quarrels, especially when a child is forced to share. It is not "sharing" when it is done by force. "Sharing" is not necessarily good for a child's character. Forcing and encouraging sharing might result to gullibility. Sharing toys among a large group of children might cause the spread of diseases.  The most common diseases spread among children are the flu, the cold and in extreme cases chickenpox and fleas.  The biggest reason why parents and teachers encourage sharing is because it's easier. Why solve a problem about who gets the toy when you could just tell them to share? In my opinion, they are just being lazy.

Learning to share is an important skill for children, but it is not a priority. Parents and teachers should be spending less time in forcing sharing and more in teaching children to respect the rules. Children should be taught that crying and screaming for a classmate's/sibling's toy won't work. They should also be taught to understand boundaries. What belongs for someone else is not theirs and they can't have it. Parents and Kindergarten teachers should encourage kids to have a strong personality and to stand up for themselves.  When a child doesn’t want to share, he shouldn't be forced to share, he/she should be encouraged to express himself/herself instead of breaking his/her resolve and "convincing" him/her to give up their toys. They should be taught to share willingly and with an open heart. Otherwise it is not sharing.

Bottom line is, "Sharing is NOT Caring" if it is not done by will and convenience. Parent and teachers should never force something that is meant to be done with good will, especially from children in a tender age. What we teach children will outline their personalities in the future.