Thursday, July 5, 2012

Never judge me til you walk 39 days in my moccasins...

This quote is firmly etched in my memory and my practice, as one of my favourite lecturer's (Denis McLauughlin) favourite quotes....  

Never judge me til you walk 39 days in my moccasins...

I often find myself thinking this in times of success and in times of challenge.  Right at this very moment, I want to scream this quote to everyone, everywhere.  

I am really struggling with the horrendous posts on facebook and other social media about the two boys who made a mistake!  
They made a mistake!  
They may never be able to fully comprehend this mistake, but it was a mistake.  They did not set out to burn their skin off, they set out to get high.

They may not have weighed up the consequences, they may not have made a good choice, they may not have been informed but at the end of the day  - They made a mistake!  

When I think through all the pranks I have been involved in, all the fun we have had, all the risks we took, I know that I have been very fortunate.  As I think of my own two children, and all that they have been involved in, I know that we are very fortunate.

The point I am making is this - leave them alone, stop judging them, stop ridiculing their decisions.  Instead, use your energy on caring for those around you, speak a kind word, give a hug, listen a bit more closely, care a little bit more, and count your blessings.  

Next term I am determined to spend a lot more time with my class considering risks, thinking through consequences... but mostly, I am going to model, encourage, and empower our learners to think before they judge, before they criticise, before they mock....



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