How Children Develop Self-Regulation Naturally

Nature has got a natural agenda, is that you should grow up to be a self-regulated adult in connection with yourself and with other people. Nature has an agenda for an acorn to become an oak tree. But an acorn doesn't spontaneously become an oak tree. It has to have the right conditions. Mm-hmm. So it's not a question of teaching the acorn to be an oak tree. Just give it the nourishment and the sunlight and the earth and irrigation that it needs. Its nature is to become an oak tree. The nature of human beings is to become self-regulated, socially responsible creatures. That's how we evolved. Given the right conditions, that will happen. So it's not a question of teaching all these things. Mostly it's a question of meeting children's needs, giving them the right conditions, and then they will develop self-regulation. In the right environment, these traits spontaneously evolve or develop in a human being. So our society is always about how do we teach these skills and no skills. Teaching is important, but more important is the child's spontaneous growth given the right environment. And what I'm saying about this toxic culture, we don't give our kids the right environment.