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| Beautiful Disney World at Sunset (Photo credit: Stuck in Customs) |
When I teach a lesson on
responsibility, even in kindergarten, children know immediately what they are
responsible for. Here are some of
the many things they suggest: pets, younger brothers and sisters, their toys,
their behavior, their homework, making their bed, cleaning up their room,
brushing their teeth, taking out the trash and eating healthy food. Sometimes fulfilling responsibilities can follow the Law of
Pinocchio. In other words, just as
Pinocchio’s nose grew longer immediately each time he lied, sometimes children receive
a positive response or affirmation or reward immediately upon completing the
task. More likely though,
responsibilities follow the Law of the Harvest. In other words, the results of responsible behavior or
decisions are not immediately obvious.
Eating a healthy snack when we could have eaten a candy bar doesn’t
often have an immediate reward.
Completing homework when we could have watched television isn’t always
immediately satisfying. When I ask
young children, why they do the things they do that are responsible, they
usually respond with something like, “So I don’t get into trouble.” or “So I can play afterwards”. Older children begin to understand consequences
that occur much later than the original event.
Here’s a fun way to talk about responsibility, consequences
while tapping into children’s imagination as well. Judith Viorst has written a delightful book of poems
entitled: If I Were in Charge of
the World. The title is taken from
a poem in the book that begins like this:
If I were in charge of the world
I’d cancel oatmeal,
Monday mornings,
Allergy shots and also
Sara Steinberg
I like to read the poem to students
and then have them write their own poem about what the world would be like if
they were in charge of the world.
What would they cancel or what would they make sure there was more
of? What would they change and
what would they do away with?
We follow up with a discussion
about what would be the consequences of the changes they’d like to see. Would it be a better world? Is it something they really could and
should change? Would it make a difference? What are they in
charge of ? Are we all in some
ways in charge of our own piece of the world? It makes for a fun and lively discussion.
It’s also a good question for
adults don’t you think? What would
you do if you were in charge of the world?
