I've been thinking about Hels' reaction to the Joan Baez concert. The child was completely absorbed not just in the music, but also in the lyrics and the message. We've had subsequent talks about Vietnam, Iraq, the peace movement, and the power of the arts to challenge the status quo.
Talking about such issues is relatively new for us. We've lived for years without television. Our children have not grown up seeing the nightly news. They haven't had images from news magazines staring at them from the coffee table. One might say they've led a very sheltered existence. One could say that we've done them a disservice by not teaching them about Iraq, global warming, extinction, or any number of other things. Of course, they know about these big world issues in a general sense, but they haven't been exposed to the media's fear factor approach.
Not too long ago, while visiting friends, their young daughter kept coming up to me to ask if I realized that xx acres of ice were disappearing from Antarctica every day. She kept bringing me these little facts and I realized that she was quite disturbed by it all and really had no idea what to do with the information she had received except to be worried.
This worry seems so unnecessary. There's plenty of time later to be worried about the world. Instead, I think children need to have such deep, rich experiences in the world that it fills their inner selves. They need to have wallowed in mud, gotten lost in the world of the stars, and breathed in the sweet smell of grass. They need to have such a sense of wonder about the world that as adults, they'll care--care enough to step out and try to create change.
Children also need to grow up with adults quietly leading by example in creating change. By simple acts--recycling, composting, saving energy, attending town meeting and voting--our children will see that the power of one can be powerful. They'll grow to realize that their parents have been active, engaged citizens all along and that they, themselves have been acting toward change all along.
As teens, susceptible to swinging emotions and new ways of thinking, it could be easy to become overwhelmed and depressed about the world. If they already have the habit of being "green"at home, perhaps when they delve into global warming in their science class they will realize that they already have begun to make change in their own small way.
The Waldorf curriculum also supports this notion. In the middle school years, the children are exposed to a rich array of literature, science, current events, and history that expose the children to big issues and disturbing events that are balanced with examples leaders and artists of all sorts who have acted with respect, concern and integrity. They are also given a large amount of community service work to help them find purpose in themselves.
I want my young teen to learn about the Joan Baez's in this world. As she learns about some of our world's greatest challenges, I don't want her to sink into despair or helplessness, but instead to be stirred into caring and action. We're stepping into a new phase in our family life. It's exciting!
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The girls are all a twitter about April Fool's Day. They can't manage to keep anything secret and have already switched the jackets of the books we are reading for other books and rigged a clock. They have big plans for school as well--they are planning to sneak into each other's classrooms for role call and who knows what else.
