Lately I’ve noticed that children generally don’t have the same sense of personal space as adults. For example, it doesn’t matter how crushed together people get on the subway, we all manage somehow to have our own space, not really feeling (or touching, if possible) the people around us. Children, though, often don’t seem to care or even be aware of the presence of another person, let alone their personal space.
To accidentally brush someone else’s should is a no-no to an adult, but it goes unnoticed by a child when they do it. I don’t think that this is a lack of awareness is caused by poor discipline. More likely, I think, is that children don’t know or understand the we “must” separate ourselves from other people.
Sometimes I think that it is really sad that I am surrounded by people all day, yet quanta is the only person I touch. I suspect that I’m not the only one who lives like this. Maybe that’s why massage and touch therapy have become so popular. I’m obviously not suggesting that we should go around and touch strangers. That’s just ookie. But maybe we would all feel a little more connected if we weren’t so physically separated from everyone else.
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I think they actually sponsor events in the Toronto area. Lucky you. 🙂
Its good to see you back blogging again.
I am not convinced children are unaware of their personal space, it is rather that children will remain within a group of adults rather powerless little beings, who through countless years of social engineering feel that to demand they have some personal space of their own is beyond the social norm or expectation. They neither have the strength, height, support from adults to challenge adults to give them some room, so they remain at service to accept their position, squashed though they may be, among the adult population.