A different perspective

Lately, I was thinking about how important it is everyday to think of things in a new perspective. It is a nice way to open up creativity in your mind. Clear off some of the cobwebs of a room in your mind that has never been rearranged. Move that furniture around. Make new dents in the rug. Seriously, how often do we use our brains to the fullest? Never.

I can't remember who I was talking to but we were saying how important it is to look at things from all angles. Like say you overhear someone say something that initially you don't agree with. It's just not one of your beliefs.

For example, the other day when I was volunteering at school I heard a teacher shout out to the kids as they were walking in a straight little line back to their classroom, "no tattle tailing unless there is blood involved." This, she was saying to kindergartners. I cringed, thinking, "oh great...nice morals you're teaching, lady." Seriously, number one, I don't believe a kid telling a teacher that another kid is hitting in him in the face or kicking him is bad. Why? Because they are so young and yes, the kid should NOT be doing that and most of the time needs an authority figure to make him stop or be punished. Five and six year olds sometimes don't yet have the skills to get another kid to stop bullying them.

Number two, "blood involved" -- cripes, how often is that happening in kindergarten...are we talking fist fights in the boys room? Is that encouraging them to draw blood? Desensitizing them to the fact that if a kid is hitting another kid hard enough to draw blood and that is the only time a teacher would get involved. So I sneered, walked away and drove home thinking our school system is totally careless in what they are actually teaching kids.

Then I decided to stop and think about it...kids bicker about a lot of stuff; "he touched me," "she is looking at me mean," "he knocked over my blocks"....I guess it can be an on-going batttle. I guess the teacher gets the tattle tails a lot. I guess she really wanted to make a point that tattling over something small is not acceptable and to save that tattling for the big jobs. I guess she is sick and tired of little kids saying, "he/she did this..." soooooo I forgave her...just a little bit. I didn't like her choice of words but I think the point was clear, only tell the teacher when someone is really hurting you. In some ways, it still bugs me that we must always be reactive and not proactive but I can see where sometimes there just isn't a better solution...I think it is lack of perspective and creativity.