Helmets on the Trail

I am all for safety. I am a believer in prevention, but we are going too far. We are preventing kids from some of the most connecting experiences available to them, all in the name of safety or should I say the fear of lawsuits?! Here are just some of the ridiculous rules kids are subject to today: no animals in the classroom, no touching of snakes in nature centers, no climbing on ANYTHING, and no crossing a boardwalk without a lifeguard present. Million dollar payments in lawsuits for non-negligent accidents are largely to blame. When something bad happens we head for the nearest attorney, someone must be blamed and victims compensated, even when it is simply an accident. I let kids play and climb outdoors during the summer camps I teach. One summer a kid even broke an arm and needed stitches in his lip when he fell out of a tree. His mother was great about it. The week before he had broken his thumb during a baseball game. She believed that the alternative was not acceptable: having her child live a sterile, overly protected life.  Frivolous lawsuits lead us to overprotected children who cannot be children anymore. Their natural fearlessness is morphing into a fear of everything outdoors. I see it in students who are never outdoors, every bug and noise is a potential hazard and a trip to the woods is  a reason to experience  a rise in blood pressure. If we do not try to stop this, we are headed for a world in which children might just have to start wearing helmets on the trail, because after all, a tree branch just might fall on their heads.

Teaching Values First

Many have said it before, our priorities are all wrong. We just need to read the news and listen to its message. As a global culture, if you will, we value the wrong things. We sacrifice too much because we ignore and deny our role in this world. Dominant culture teaches that money is all important and that accumulating facts equals education. We teach that material wealth is more important than absorbing an ethical way of living here on earth. In the absence of ethics, our tribal nature becomes a toxic identification which so often leads to violence.

Ethics begins with respect. Respect for all living things and property of others. Respect for what nature is telling us and what science is teaching us. We are great at ignoring the warning signs that our priorities are all wrong.

The other day the dual language Annishinabeg school came to learn about maple syruping at our nature center. These Native American Indian school kids were from a poor neighborhood and it is likely that they also had stressful family situations. But there was something amazing about this group of children. They listened and behaved without constant scolding. The school's teachers had their priorities right. It was obvious that the first thing they taught them was the age-old traditions of their people; to respect one's elders and the natural world. Almost every other class has to be told to treat the museum artifacts with respect. They have to be told not to pound on the exhibit buttons. Not this group. These children, from a disadvantaged place in life, listened patiently for 25 minutes to the introduction. They went outside without needing to be told to listen. They all brought with them a small offering of tobacco leaf which they dropped at the bottom of the maple tree in gratitude for the sugar they were about to extract. We all got to teach and did not have to discipline. That day they taught me much more than I taught them. Did I mention that these students were only 4 and 5 year's old? Maybe they aren't so disadvantaged afterall.

Generosity is Selfish

It is selfish to be generous. We need to get that word out. The world needs so much more generosity and so much less greed. But the myth we live is that generosity hurts and receiving and hoarding our wealth feels good. Why is it selfish to be generous? Because it feels so good to give. It is a much greater feeling to be the giver than the receiver. My parents taught me that. They have perfected generosity. They simply glow with satisfaction everytime they do something nice for someone. They do something nice every day.

When I got old enough to imitate their gestures towards others I discovered they were right. Nothing feels better than to give of yourself. Giving is not always about money. One can be generous with one's time, one's humor or one's possessions. Just ask a lonely person in a nursing home if they would rather have an hour more of your time or a $100 bill.

My parents love giving things they've made themselves. If you are the proud owner of the hundreds of stained glass items my father has made over the years or one of the hundreds of beaded necklaces my mother has patiently crafted, you possess an item filled with the joy of generosity. I am absolutely certain that my parents experienced greater joy than the recipients of those beautiful hand-made gifts. I also believe that the joy of giving lasts longer than the joy of receiving. In a world that seems to breed selfishness and all of the pain it creates, we need spread the word that generosity is selfish.




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