A couple of really interesting articles have come out regarding kids. The first isn't so much an article as it is a description of a recently published book of photos called Where Children Sleep by James Mollison. The photographer did portraits of children from all over the world and from many socioeconomic backgrounds paired with a photo of the place they sleep. It's a great look at children and where they call home. I really enjoyed perusing the posted photos.
The second article of interest is about a 1st grade girl named Katie who loves Star Wars. Katie toted a Star Wars water bottle to school everyday. Out of the blue, she insisted that she take an old pink water bottle instead. This was unusual enough that her mom pressed her about it, and discovered that her daughter's schoolmates had made it clear to the kiddo that Star Wars is for boys. Katie insisted that she was different enough by being the only one in class that wears glasses, an eye patch, and is adopted. So mom let Katie take the conventional pink water bottle to school.
Katie's mom wrote about the incident on her blog, Portrait of an Adoption. After making her post, a few fellow geeks came across it and saw in Katie a kindred spirit. A huge out pouring of support ensued and if you type "May the force be with you Katie" into your Google Search engine you will find hundreds of mentions in blogs, articles and videos. This prompted the parents of Katie's classmates to talk with their kids about bullying, and she has received apologies and expressions of support from her schoolmates.
I think this is a wonderful story about how communication can instigate change, and how the cruelty children feel the need to inflict on their peers can be positively addressed and mitigated. Unfortunately, I'm a cynic. After celebrating in my heart for Katie, and all those that found her and formed a community around her need, my thoughts turned dark. I thought about what was different about this story from the numerous stories I've read about other kids that are different. I loved that the parents of those children that gave Katie a hard time talked to their kids about bullying and helped them understand that their behaviour was hurtful. I wonder, though, that if Katie's difference had been less innocuous, more controversial, whether there would have been an effort on those parents' parts to change their childrens' behaviour. Lets say Katie had two mommies, or was gay, or was Muslim or was representative of whatever else stirs fear in the American Consciousness. Katie's mom is right to implore us to challenge our fear of what is different and to live as examples of civility for our children to witness. Star Wars is easy, but can we live that example when it comes to what scares us?
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