A
colleague of mine shared a quote with me yesterday that resonates: Prepare
the child for the path, not the path for the child. It is so tempting to want to line things up so
that our children will not have to face any trouble, particularly with the
headline news of the past few days. Sometimes
in our haste we jump to solve their problems for them. And without question, it is imperative that we
as parents and teachers play a crucial role in guiding our children, ensuring
their safety and providing opportunities for them to grow and flourish. At the same time, it’s worth us stepping back
and looking at how much do we do for
our children, and how much we allow them
to try themselves.
We all
wore pink yesterday because awareness is important on the path. Your children were asked to ponder the
question, How do we keep bullying out of
our school? It never ceases to amaze
me how clearly our children see and understand what we need to do. Here are some of the many responses we
received: Try being kind to others even if they look different from you… We can stop bullying by being kind and never
stop being kind… If we witness it we
tell an adult immediately. We don’t
fight back because then we are bullies too… We treat everyone equally. Give
everyone a chance to speak… We try to help others. If we help others who are bullies then maybe
the bullies will change… We can stop
bullying by not just standing there but trying to help… Treat everyone the way you want to be
treated…
Our
children keep growing. As they grow,
they want and need more independence.
They’re headed toward adolescence then adulthood. A time will come when we’re not there to
watch them play or sign their agendas.
We’re traveling with them to that place.
That’s what we’re trying to do here.
At Sacred Heart we call it personal growth in an atmosphere of wise
freedom, and we work tirelessly to ensure that it happens for every child.
In India, we have a saying:
“Everything will be alright in the
end.”
So if it's not alright, it is not yet
the end."
(Sonny in The
Best Exotic Marigold Hotel)
