Today was a very eye opening day for the 4th and 5th graders at my school. While in the cafeteria I saw a juice box on the floor about 3 feet from where kids pick up their food at the window. I watched for almost 10 minutes as kid after kid passed by the juice box on the floor. Some students glanced at the juice box and some even stepped over it.
After awhile I said to myself, "I wonder if anyone will pick this juice box up". Well no one did!
I then got the attention of the 4th graders and told them about the box and if someone would have picked it up I would have given that person some candy. They were shocked..I talked to them about how they needed to take pride in their school.
So I decided to do this with the 5th graders. This time I upped the ante. I taped a $1.00 bill to the underside of the juice box and waited for the 5th graders to arrive. Ten minutes passed and guess what? The 5th graders did the same thing as the 4th graders. They kicked the box, stepped over the box and glanced at the box, but none picked up the box.
I then got the attention of the 5th graders and told them about the box and told them if anyone would have picked it up...then I showed them the dollar. They were shocked..I talked to them about how they needed to take pride in their school.
What does this little part of school tell me? Kids are kids and they are just like adults. Busy, busy, busy and focused on other things so much so that they overlook the small things in life. Sometimes we step over life, kick life, glance at life but never take the time to slow down and take care of life.
If we would slow down I think life would be a little better and our cafeteria might be a little cleaner!!!
Let me know what you think!
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My thought raises the question, "do the children have lack of school pride, or
does it go beyond school?" If that same box of juice were at the local skating rink, shopping mall, movie theater or even in their own back yard, would they bother to pick it up?
I'm 36 years old, was raised to be respectful of everything and everyone. That meant if I saw a juice box on the floor I should put it in the trashcan instead
of looking at it and stepping over it. I think that applied to the majority of my generation. It does bother me to notice that younger people loose a little of the respect habit as generations progress.
So, hopefully with the help of wonderful peers like you Mr.Smith, our tradition of respect can be carried out as a normal behavior, and not something
special, extraordinary, or something that we have to make time for.
Thank you for all that you do and don't stop, our children need you!