WWMRD

WWMRD: What Would Mr. Rogers Do?

 

Test scores have dropped severely, to no one's surprise.  Kids are leaving school in droves at all levels - not to be home schooled, but to stop going altogether.  Schools are in turmoil, and nothing seems to be working. 

Your kids may be doing fine (and I hope they are), but kids in general are not.  Not even close.

We all know it.  I’m sure they do too.  But do they, really? 

Yes, they know shit is messed up.  Yes, they get that this is not normal.  And maybe the older ones get some of the key problems. 

But then what?  They know they're losing a few years of education, but do they understand what it really means for them and their future?  What should they do about it? 

What is the lesson we're teaching them right now?  From zoom classes where few pay attention, to classrooms with distancing and masks, and back to zoom again... it seems all we're teaching is that education is about being in a specific place for a set amount of hours while someone talks at you about boring things. 

Think of how Mr. Rogers addressed tragedies. 

He always tried to connect the dots for kids, and never leave them trying to piece this stuff together alone.  He'd be honest and direct, and he'd leave them with something they can do. 

For example, his famous "helpers" speech wasn't just about the helpers.  It was about how to talk your kids through a crisis.  In a crisis:

• Ask your kids what they know about what's going on.
• Be honest and direct, and show you respect them enough to tell the truth.  
• Then give them something to do. 
• In that case, look for the helpers. 

If you haven't heard that speech lately, it was following a shooting (I'm pretty sure it was after Reagan was shot). 

He was direct with kids, and told them that things like this are scary, and it's okay to be afraid.  He asked why they think bad people would do something like this.  He asked... rather than telling them... how it made them feel. 

It was only at the tail end that he gave them something more immediate to do - "look for the helpers". 

I'm wondering how we can best do that now. 

I think it's to tell kids their education is suffering, and to own your role in it.  To tell them to their faces; not telling it to other adults with the kids possibly in earshot.  News articles and parent discussions aren't the same as directly confronting the issue. 

Tell them directly that this is happening, and we are proving incapable of fixing it.  At least for now.

Tell them education is about their freedom.  Tell them it’s not about jobs.  Tell them that someone who is only trained to do one thing will be beholden to that thing.  An educated person can adopt nearly any industry and learn new skills quickly. 

Tell them the lessons they were supposed to learn today are the building blocks for a successful life, and at best you're only getting half of what you were supposed to get (which even then wasn't good enough).

As Mr. Rogers did, ask them what they think we should do.  Ask them how they feel and help them express their feelings in healthy ways.  Something like an updated version of his song "What do you do with the mad that you feel?"

Then give them something to do.  I'll defer to the experts on this, but I offer the following as a conversation starter for those experts to explore or shoot down as needed:

Limit the number of subjects being taught so we can shorten the day.  An engaged 2 hours is better than a disengaged 6 or more.  Focus as much as possible on two things: how to learn and why you should want to learn in the first place.  

In other words, before teaching X, take the time to confront the question directly and clearly, "Why do I need to learn X?" 

And if jobs, "future earning potential", or something similar comes out of your mouth, you've failed.  In fact, if you can’t answer this question then perhaps you, yourself, should rethink what you’re doing.

You're not learning biology because knowing what chlorophyll is will get you a job.  It's to better understand and engage with your world, to have agency and autonomy, and to be ready and able to handle the glorious challenge of self-government.  [I’ll come back to this topic in many essays.] 

I also think Mr. Rogers would say to them that this isn't your fault. 

We are not equipped to help you because adults get scared and lost too, sometimes.

But it's not over.  We're not giving up.  We all just need help, and maybe we can be each other's best helpers. 

And you can continue your education now and into the future whether it looks like it used to or not.  Let’s hope you can do better for your kids.  

Maybe I'm wrong. I just know what we're doing isn't working, and it's long past time to think outside the box.