Observations From The Animal Kingdom...Offspring

Quick show of hands; who knows which animal watches over their young the longest?

HUMANS!!!! That's right, shout it out if you already know the answer.

When we look at the animal kingdom in its entirety, humans care for their offspring the longest, on average 18 years. For a member of the animal kingdom claiming to be the smartest thing living on the planet, it sure seems to take us a helluvalot longer to train our young to be self-sufficient...and here's the kicker; we're not really teaching them to be self-sufficient are we?

Take a look at the education we subject our offspring to in comparison to the rest of the animal kingdom. We send our children to "public education" for no less than 12 years, and nowadays with B-4 programs many children are going to school from age 4 to age 18. This means they spend 6-8 hours a day in the care of individuals who are paid by the state to "teach" them.

Why do we feel obligated to provide food, water, and shelter to our offspring for a period of 18 years...? If we are indeed the smartest creatures climbing over this interstellar piece of pocket lint, then how come after all these years we haven't figured out a way to send our kids into the great outdoors any sooner than that...? Don't get me wrong, I love my kids and would do anything for them, but I often find myself looking at the rest of the animal kingdom and wondering if they don't see us as some of the dumbest creatures ever encountered.

Do you see any other animals sending their offspring to school...?

The first person to answer with FISH, gets slapped. Seriously though, the rest of the animal kingdom teaches their offspring how to find food, water, and shelter; the three main essentials to survival. After they are confident that the offspring understands the dynamics of surviving in a harsh environment, they let them take care of themselves. Rabbits, squirrels, and deer don't go to school to learn how not to get trapped, hunted, or shot; those are things learned at home...hopefully Mom and Pop are good at their get-away game. It is an equally harsh world for humans should fragile infrastructures fail. Your children's survival is your responsibility; start training them now!