A childs mind, like a sponge, absorbs it's immediate environment
good or bad, the home, media, and eventually the outside world
8 year old with head buried in a book and goldfish crackers
How will I be a positive influence today? How will I make it not about me or saving the world,but about bringing out the strengths and stimulating the child's mind to seek out answers and information to form new ones without instilling my own ideals or values? The project was a bead design and he decided to create a fish, the fish he was just eating. The second project he created was a gun that he would aim and play with. He spoke of how in the past people could argue verbally or physically, then spears, guns and now atomic bombs. I wonder when a child loses innocence, is it when they have learned these things or is it when permanence sets in, the cartoon inflicted with a gun shot wound that returns completely intact in the next scene will not have the same effect in real life. The final message we spoke about was how words can hurt just as much, if not more than a gun and how use of guns for protection most often results in inflicting the person that owns it rather than the actual initial thought out purpose. There was silence, a momentary flicker in his eye and our dialogue is a small part of an eventual formation of his own philosophy. Hopefully one that will adjust to the changing societal and environmental structures. I admit working with children is not my strong point, but it is a great challenge as I can also learn from the flexibility and openness of a child's creative mind.
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