Monday, August 18, 2008

Kids

Art Linkletter used to host a show called, "Kids Say The Darndest Things" on TV.

I teach school and the other day I gave my students a survey. One question was, "What does it take to be a good friend?"

The answers were great: "You have to support your friends", "Be nice", "Tell the truth", "Have fun!", etc. I was so impressed I put all their comments together in a Power Point presentation and showed it to them. We talked for a while about friends and what it takes to have a good relationship before it was time for them to go home.

Afterward, the cynical side of me began to speak up: "That's only how they want to be treated by the other kids. They're not going to really treat other people that way." I have been teaching for a long time, long enough to know they are still pretty egocentric at their age. I love them anyway.

So now I'm playing the waiting game: will they actually be good friends to each other or will they just demand that others be nice to them?

Time will tell.

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