Day twenty-nine - Texas on My Mind

I know that the song is ‘Georgia on My Mind’ but it seems that the last few days, since I arrived here, I have had ‘Texas’ on my mind an awful lot. Yesterday, I had a great visit with Sylvia Cantu, office manager of National Education Systems Inc. in San Antonio. Sylvia was truly excited about our materials and it was a good meeting.

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Sylvia Cantu, the office manager of National Education Systems Inc. in San Antonio.

Then I drove to the suburbs of Austin, where I stayed with my hosts, Sally and Rod, who both teach grade six. Sally is a language arts teacher with a music background (opera singing!) and Rod teaches math. They were both very hospitable and their home was great.

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Sally [left] and Rod [right], my hosts in Austin, Texas.

What is bothering me is our discussion over morning coffee. Sally mentioned that at her school they’d been having a lot of problems with grade six kids becoming violent in the school yard. Apparently kids have been trying to settle issues themselves through violence. Sally mentioned that this year the problems have escalated. She seemed surprised.

From an outsider’s point of view, it’s disturbing but not so surprising to me. Kids emulate what they see around them. They emulate what they see on television and what they see at home.

If we want our kids to learn to settle their issues without violence; if we want our students to confer with others and to learn tolerance and conflict resolution, then we, as adults, need to set an example by seeking peaceful solutions to the world’s problems.

Learning to appreciate and celebrate diversity is free but it is learned by example. It doesn’t cost lives and it might help Johnny the next time he considers flexing his muscles or ‘throwing a punch’ in the school yard.