The Need for Privacy
Today I felt a need for some
privacy. I needed time to be alone. To think.
How many teens have a chance for privacy when they need it in a
typical school environment?
This reminds me of the statement that “All men are created
equal.” I don’t agree. Some people have different
needs. Some need more privacy. Why? Because they need more time
to think. And perhaps because they can’t share their
thoughts with anyone. It might not be safe. Imagine you are
raised in a place where everyone around you shares certain
beliefs. But you question those beliefs. You know that the people
around you don’t like it when you question their beliefs, so
you need privacy. You need to be able to think alone. To search
for answers alone. To make sense of things alone.
Most cultures do not offer this opportunity to intelligent young
people. The people who have designed and who administer the
schools, for example, don’t appreciate or understand a young
person’s need to question things. So they don’t
understand or appreciate a young person’s need for privacy
either.
Who knows how much privacy a person needs? Obviously, only they
do. But most often, we don’t allow a young person to meet
their need for privacy. In fact, we probably have never even
considered it. Speaking for myself, I never thought about my need
for privacy when I was young. But now I realize such a need
exists, that it is different for each person, and those who
question more but feel unsafe to share their thoughts and
questions need more privacy than others.
I know now that for some sensitive, intelligent teens, the only
place they are able to have some limited sense of privacy is when
they are in the bathroom. Even this though is controlled. Some
teens have reported they are monitored on how long they are
allowed inside the bathroom, or they are even followed in.
As a person who thinks and writes, it pains me to know that a
young person, more sensitive and alone than even I was, does not
have the “right” to fill such a basic need as deciding
how long to be alone. Even the much worshiped concept of equal
rights make no sense for such a person because they have unequal
needs.
Society will take a great step forward when we put more attention
on meeting the natural, individual needs of children and young
people.
S. Hein
October 2010
Agadir, Morocco