20100205

Clean it up.

I was at Rhayn's school yesterday, watching as she helped muck out the animal yard. The parents were told to supervise, but not to help. (Sweet!) I ended up taking pictures of the animals, because that is what I do.

Towards the end of the time I went over to the restroom so Gwennie could wash her hands and have a snack. The 8th grade class was in the restrooms washing their hands after their pottery class. They left the restroom a disaster. I was appalled by the mess. Seriously there was clay on every surface including the door handle.

It made me wonder if the school or parents are teaching the children any respect for the property. We spend a lot of our time teaching our children to respect the earth, use less, conserve, compost. Yet every day I walk out on the school yard there is trash on it. There are granola bar wrappers and hats left out.

Rhayn has been taught a little about littering, we went hiking not too long ago and she and her cousin were picking up trash along the way. We are trying to teach her to respect the earth in that manner. Whenever we see the trash on the play yard we pick it up. Its courteous. They also need to learn to clean up after themselves, I shouldn't judge, but I doubt any of the 8th graders in the restroom ever have to pick up their own messes at home. I know that when I was that age, I did NOT leave a huge mud mess in a bathroom, I would have at least wiped the door handle and faucet handle off.

At the muck out there were kids complaining about how much they didn't want to be there, and how they don't like cleaning up poop, but they all enjoy the goats, sheep and Jonic the pig.

I am just thankful that my children are able to go to a school that has animals and gardens. I love that they are surrounded by nature.

Gwennie is terrified of the white goose, she was helping feed them one morning and the white lady kept trying to get the food from Gwennie faster than Gwennie could drop it. She cried and screamed about her for hours.

I like to look at the sheep.

This is a nice goat, and look at his face! How sweet is he?

5 comments:

Anonymous said...

Cute animals! Do they shear that sheep during the summer? :)

bodaat said...

I too think that your girls are very lucky to have animals at their school!

meli said...

Oooh, i love goats! Second to cats (big and small), I think they're my favorite animal!

lvh said...

lol - the sheep looks like he's smiling for you.

Wayne said...

I agree that kids lack consciousness of some kinds of courtesy and thoughtfulness. Schools can't teach it all, they can just help reinforce it. It has to be taught at home. I think the busier Americans get with their lives, the less they focus on raising their kids. Americans have gotten into this warped rut of thinking that scheduling lots of enriching activities is the "correct" way to raise children. Keep 'em busy: soccer, scouting, violin lessons, etc. The more you schedule, the better a parent you are, right? But in the midst of a cluttered schedule, we forget to teach them things like picking up after themselves, or the basic respect they should give to others.

I was at a birthday party yesterday and the family had hired a juggler. During his show, the older kids were pretty rude. They constantly encroached into areas the juggler asked them to stay out of, they talked loudly while he was performing, and even said little rude, sarcastic things to him. And these were DMS kids. I felt bad for the guy. Thankfully, it wasn't my kids who were acting up, so I just hanged back and observed. Cristina feels comfortable correcting other people's kids, but I don't (unless they're in my classroom!)

Anyway, my point is, I've noticed the same kinds of disrespect that you have, even from our beloved DMS kids. It just goes to show you that just because kids go to a great school doesn't mean they've assimilated the lessons they need to learn. Especially when those lessons need to come from home.

Related Posts Plugin for WordPress, Blogger...