Recently, an adult at Juniper Root organized a Pie Poll to decide which pie we’ll bake the day before Thanksgiving Break. She placed a sheet of paper on the wall for everyone to write their name under their chosen pie. Today, we tallied the votes and found that apple pie received two more votes than berry. It was a fairly close vote. Some older students began discussing how certain individuals changed their vote after seeing their friends' choices. We discussed the influence of those around us and how it can sometimes be difficult to distinguish our opinions from those of our friends. We also talked about how some younger students might want to vote like the older students because they admire them.
After this discussion, one of the unofficial student leaders of our crew decided that we should have another vote, this time in a private voting booth. This almost 10-year-old is not a leader because he demands it. He doesn’t order people around. He is a leader because he has an uncanny ability to hear the voices of our population and help the group arrive at a decision that best meets everyone’s needs. He is a leader because he creates group games that allow the vastly different skill levels of our 4–11 year-old population to play together. He is a leader because even though his choice for pie won the initial vote, he still took the initiative to create ballots, build a private voting booth, and organize our population for another vote.
Children are capable of so much when we create an environment that empowers them to utilize their unique skillsets to work towards mutual understanding. This environment allows time and space for thoughtful discussions about issues that directly affect them. At their young age, these children have an incredible capacity to hear and accommodate the variety of viewpoints expressed by our population on all sorts of topics. We understand that hearing what others have to say is a necessary, beautiful, uncomfortable element of sharing a space with other people.
We don’t have all the answers here. But we do have the time and space to ponder our infinite questions. We have the ability to play with different solutions and an understanding that none of them will be perfect. And that maybe working and playing towards understanding each other is a solution in itself.
Comments