We live in a small, close-knit community where we enjoy an amazing sense of family, but where exposure to those who are different than we are is often limited. My hope for this unit was that my students would come to understand that although people all over the world are different, we are a part of one big family. I want them to learn to not only tolerate diversity, but to appreciate it and consider it a strength. Ultimately, I want them to learn to show love to others....ALL others.
Later in the day on Friday, I learned that during the same minutes when my children had their arms around each other singing, "We are the ones who'll make a brighter day", other children and teachers were dying in Newtown, Connecticut.
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It's difficult to explain all of the emotions this national tragedy has evoked...disbelief and horror that anyone could be capable of killing young children, sadness and empathy for the parents, anger at the thought of someone threatening my sons or my students, relief that my sons and my students are safe, guilt for feeling that way....
Most of all, I feel helpless.
I want to DO something...anything...something....
I hear the broadcasters and the activists arguing about gun laws, safety procedures, and metal detectors. But, when will we talk about the real problems, not just the symptoms? How long will it take us to realize that we are attempting to heal a gaping wound with a tiny bandaid?
Being the mother of two boys, I've often remarked that boys especially are compelled to do two things: build and destroy. My boys have spent hours over the years building Lego structures, sand castles, tree houses and forts, only to destroy or abandon them once they were completed. Within these behaviors, I believe, lies a key to healthy social and emotional development.
In her book, Teacher, Sylvia Ashton-Warner, writes about the two "vents" that people possess: the creative and the destructive. She suggests that both of these vents are expressive, and that if we can steer children towards the creative, then the destructive will atrophy, much like a muscle does when it isn't used.
Children can learn how much better it feels to build than to destroy through emergent, self-directed play that allows them to experience the natural consequences of their actions, without adults who swoop in to save them from learning from their mistakes. But, what CAN adults do?
Model...model....model. Play alongside and with children, modeling creative expression and cooperative behaviors. Remember, children don't listen to what we say, they watch what we do. God has placed within all animals the instinct to imitate adults. If children see us expressing love, they will as well.
And so, I know what to do. I will continue teaching boys and girls...not only how to read, write, and solve math problems, but how to create, and more importantly, how to love others...ALL others.
"We are the world.
We are the children.
We are the ones who'll make a brighter day,
So let's start giving.
There's a choice we're making.
We're saving our own lives.
It's true, we'll make a better day,
Just you and me."
