At yesterday’s meeting, I watched as the charismatic, energetic young mom of one of the cast members — one with significant theater experience of her own, who has been one of the principal advocates of the play — talked to the cast members about production plans. She spoke of the efforts to find a performance space, and of the gift given to them of rehearsal space at the local senior center. She asked that they consider the additional scrutiny that the recent publicity will place on their actions, and requested that they “behave professionally” in all these places.
A small request, to be sure? I looked around the room as the mom spoke, and saw the blank, dead expressions of the kids. Even as she asked them to be especially careful of the rehearsal space they were in, one boy was dismantling a centerpiece and playing with the contents. And later, the chairs that had been pushed neatly into the tables were left askew, and trash was left on the tables and floors.
I know what the mom said. I know what I heard. What did the kids hear? Is “be respectful of the space” just too general of an instruction? Do they not know that they ought not to throw their trash on the floor? Or do they not care?
I’m tempted to generalize about being middle-aged and crotchety. It pains me that these kids take so much for granted, and are so indifferent to the efforts of the adults around them.
Edited to add: I just had a brief discussion with the mom in question, and she suggested that perhaps my expectations are too high. Perhaps they are — it certainly wouldn’t be the first time.
Last week my daughter had to write an essay for middle school on a topic surrounding some problem and solution. She chose to write about the large amount of trash that on the grounds and wrestled with solutions that might convince kids to use the many available trash receptacles. She showed compassion for the janitor who had to pick up after them, and was puzzled by my suggestion that unless there was punishment, no appeal would likely convert lazy carelessness into neatness.
While positive reinforcement is a powerful teaching tool, I find in practice that just like my dog occasionally needs a reminder of who is running this place, so do kids, along the lines of, “You want to eat here, you do your share of the chores.” For the essay I suggested, “you drop trash, you practice picking it up for an hour after school.” My suggestion, albeit, did not make it into the essay, parental tyrant that I am; instead, she suggested regular “pick up days” where all kids participate in cleaning up the world for those that trashed it….this reminds me of something…
vhaecky
April 6th, 2008