This post uses in discussion a plot point from The Restaurant at the End of the Universe by Douglas Adams. It is not necessary to have read the book, but if you'd like to avoid spoilers for it, you may not want to read this now.
Saturday, September 24, 2011
Sunday, September 11, 2011
Teaching Children
On the first anniversary of the September 11 attacks, my history teacher had us write how we would explain the attacks to our future children. It was an interesting exercise, looking back: seeing something from our experience and our lifetime as an event that would be studied in similar history classes in the future as well as showing that what we were studying in that class had impacted the lives of real people. Well, it had that potential, anyway.
My city decided to hold a moment of silence at 11:00 this morning. The Bishop informed us of this during the announcements at the beginning of Sacrament Meeting so we would know what was going on if they set it off with sirens or something, and so we could participate if we so desired. It would be during the transition between Sunday School and Relief Society/Priesthood, so wouldn't affect the adults' lessons. I, however, would be in Primary. Because I have never bothered to memorize the exact start and end times of lessons - knowing what time to get to church and about what time I'll be leaving has always been enough for me - I wasn't sure whether I would be in class or in Sharing Time. But I did know that if they announced the moment of silence with sirens, the kids would be curious about what was going on. And so I thought a bit about what I would tell them if our class was disrupted. And I wondered whether hearing about it would scare them, and if so how I could help them feel safe, or if it would seem so long ago as to have no meaning in their lives. After all, 10 years ago none of them had even been born.
Well, the class wasn't disrupted. Apparently the city trusted everybody to realize that it was time to be quiet on their own. But the possibility started me thinking about when I will be teaching my own children. Will I be telling them about September 11 as a one-time thing when they are older and able to understand complex topics, in a manner similar to the paper I wrote in class? Will I teach them a little bit at a time as they're ready to hear it? Or will the topic just never come up and I leave it entirely to the schools? I hope I will do it the second way, a little at a time. That seems to be the best way to handle most topics. But I worry that I'll end up going with the third because it just doesn't come up and I don't think to bring it up or can't find a way to do so.
My city decided to hold a moment of silence at 11:00 this morning. The Bishop informed us of this during the announcements at the beginning of Sacrament Meeting so we would know what was going on if they set it off with sirens or something, and so we could participate if we so desired. It would be during the transition between Sunday School and Relief Society/Priesthood, so wouldn't affect the adults' lessons. I, however, would be in Primary. Because I have never bothered to memorize the exact start and end times of lessons - knowing what time to get to church and about what time I'll be leaving has always been enough for me - I wasn't sure whether I would be in class or in Sharing Time. But I did know that if they announced the moment of silence with sirens, the kids would be curious about what was going on. And so I thought a bit about what I would tell them if our class was disrupted. And I wondered whether hearing about it would scare them, and if so how I could help them feel safe, or if it would seem so long ago as to have no meaning in their lives. After all, 10 years ago none of them had even been born.
Well, the class wasn't disrupted. Apparently the city trusted everybody to realize that it was time to be quiet on their own. But the possibility started me thinking about when I will be teaching my own children. Will I be telling them about September 11 as a one-time thing when they are older and able to understand complex topics, in a manner similar to the paper I wrote in class? Will I teach them a little bit at a time as they're ready to hear it? Or will the topic just never come up and I leave it entirely to the schools? I hope I will do it the second way, a little at a time. That seems to be the best way to handle most topics. But I worry that I'll end up going with the third because it just doesn't come up and I don't think to bring it up or can't find a way to do so.
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