大象传媒

From Rae Duke, Religion and Ethics teacher and broadcaster.听
Whilst I may have managed to resist traipsing into Gen Z territory recently, thankfully not attempting to reproduce the latest trending dance routine on the younguns social media platform of choice, one of the fads I did yield to was one that split opinion; some branded it a fascinating social experiment, others saw it 鈥� making me feel pretty bad - a gentle form of torture. I鈥檓 talking about the chocolate challenge, or temptation challenge.听
The test that sees children left to their own devices, sweet treat in front of them and, crucially, with a camera rolling鈥� Perhaps you were sent a clip of your grandchild, nephew or goddaughter painstakingly waiting it out in front of a bowl containing the chocolate-button-bait. Or maybe, like me, your feed was filled with parents despairing at their offspring鈥檚 lack of patience or happily sharing the glory of some impressive obedience on display. The instruction given to the tiny participants was that they鈥檇 be allowed to have the goodies if they waited.听
So, I set my 2 year old up with her forbidden fruit and hit record before explaining that I was going out into the hall, would be back in a few minutes and that she needed to hold-out for my return before tucking in. Now, being fair and square here, I did find the whole thing simply a good bit of fun; firstly, wondering if my little girl would play ball or conk out and, of course, watching back the video - complete with bewildered expressions, suspicious gazes in my direction and a final act of defiance. But! On reflection I reckon the reason I, and countless others, jumped on the bandwagon is that this craze somewhat satisfied the hunger we all have to really understand our kids as much as possible.听
With my back turned, Rory was free to do her thing 鈥� and I, cheekily, got a ringside seat. It made me think of the words of Kahil Gibran; a man who, raised a Christian and later influenced by Islam, speaks to people of all faiths and none, when he writes: 鈥測our children are not your children, they are the sons and daughters of Life鈥檚 longing for itself鈥� you may house their bodies but not their souls, for their souls dwell in the house of tomorrow.鈥� A bittersweet thought 鈥� rather like delaying the gratification of a toddler鈥檚 sugar hit!