Acceptance. We all want it: students, teachers, faculty, parents, and community. Imagine walking into an environment and feeling accepted. No really. Try to imagine it. It is hard, right? Well, I have a group of students that tried to make that possible a couple of weeks ago. Please keep in mind that this was not my idea. These students just decided to create a week for their school of acceptance. The students had planned to be present in the building all week and offered ways to create a sense of belonging. For example, one day everyone was greeted into the school with a smile and a pencil. We stood in our main hallway all the way up to the cafeteria and greeted people with a new pencil saying, “Good Morning. Here’s a pencil. Be sharp today and be your best you.” I watched most kids just take the pencil and walk on. I wasn’t surprised partly because teenagers don’t react to much that early in the morning. And then I saw several students stop in shock and look up with a smile. Remember, this was a simple act of giving a new pencil and a greeting, but it was really an opportunity to create space for accepting a conversation between strangers.
As more and more students walked in and got a pencil and a smile, it started to catch-on. On the last two days of the week, my students created a banner that said, “What makes you the proudest?”. Kids would come up to the banner, a bed sheet really, and write down in permanent marker, for everyone to see, what they were proud of about themselves. You wouldn’t believe what some of the students wrote. I will upload some pictures onto this blog.
As I watched interactions among the vast student body, I started to create a dialogue in my head that went something like this, “Hey, we have seen each other in class but have never spoken to each other. Here’s a pencil and best wishes to let you know that even though we have never spoken, I recognize that we are here together in this space every day.” It wasn’t meant to be a time of accepting people, as it was a chance to just recognize each other. There was a safe space for tolerating the fact that not everyone feels connected or gets a chance to mingle, but today we are just going to try a little.
There is a lot of backlash or criticism about this current generation. Most of the comments are that the students feel entitled. Perhaps there is some truth to that generalization, but I think that there is such a big world out there that has become even smaller for these kids. They are trying to learn how to navigate it better than the generation before. Most of them have only known what the world is like with 24 hours news, social media, and ease of transportation. Kids growing-up today need to figure out how to navigate this world where we can be in a literal and figurative sense closer together in spaces. Fine, you don’t want to accept everyone for who they are? Ok, but at least bring those differences to the table or to a tablet and just create a space where everyone can be themselves, or at least just tolerate that we are here together amongst our differences. You certainly don’t have to accept what other people believe but at the very least just reach over every now and again, pass the salt, handover a pencil, and acknowledge that you see someone over there. If any generation is going to figure out how to find acceptance in these cramped spaces, it is the next one. They sincerely want to make a difference.
As teachers, principals, communities, we can create opportunities for our students to figure this out. It won’t be overnight, but at the very least we can offer time to have acceptance. Acceptance of differences. Acceptance that we will have to agree that we disagree. Acceptance that sometimes we just have bad days. Acceptance that we don’t always get what we want. Acceptance that we are only human. And acceptance that we are all in this space together.
Recently, we heard on the news about the tragedy at the Pittsburgh synagogue. Now more than ever we need to try to follow our students lead in attempting acceptance. Share with us something good happening at your school that provides that open space of acceptance. Maybe it is a lesson or a student organization. Perhaps, you created a lesson plan that allows your students to look at the history of acceptance. Whatever it is, accept that Inspired Education is meant to be a safe space to ask questions and lean on each other for support. You are the ones helping this next generation. Accept it.
See You Real Soon,
Erin
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