Think for yourself, question authority How it affects children
I grew up in a household in which the motto "Think for yourself, question authority" was uttered or implied in some form or another on a regular basis. It was a cornerstone of my relationship with my father, who could be often heard telling myself and my two brothers to both listen to him without question AND simultaneously to never trust everything we hear (even what he tells us) without first considering and investigating the truth of it ourselves. It was, I'm sure you'll appreciate, pretty damn confusing for us as little elementary school-aged boys. During those formative years, I thought of myself as somewhat of a renegade. I went against the grain; a rebel, and proud of it. Every time I was confronted with some kind of authoritative figure - a teacher, a policeman, any adult at all for that matter - I would rebel against them. Even if I didn't overtly display this rebellion, I was silently internally rebelling. "Dad would approve," I was sure. I