Playground Ponderings

From birth our children have an amazing ability to feel. Anger, joy, love, hatred- they aptly feel it all. As they grow older they use this ability to form a 'worldview' that directly reflects those of the adults around them. We don't teach them to weigh and decide for themselves, only what 'is' and what is acceptable according to society. Our preconceptions, prejudices, irrational judgments are all passed down to children who are taught to just know.

A few weeks ago while my class was playing outside, my cute four yr olds decided to hunt for worms. The hunt was well underway when I noticed some of the children in a heated discussion. (They're adorably earnest at this age…J) One of the boys with a stick for digging had just found a worm under the mulch and dirt and wanted to spear the little thing; a few of the other kids didn't want the worm to die. I asked the boy why he wanted to kill something that had done nothing to harm him or his friends. To this he replied,
"Well, what do worms do for us?"

Is harmony such an out-of-date idea??

In another instance, my attention was drawn by a fellow teacher on the smaller playground next to me. She was chasing the two-year-olds around with a towel on her head, fashioned into a turban. When I asked what she was doing, (amused at her silliness), she simply stated,
"I'm pretending to be a dirty Arab."

No fucking joke, man.