I once had a Teacher who was one of those rare, open-minded thinkers who didn’t feel threatened by encouraging free-thought. She showed us how to think, but never what to think.
Of course, some aspects of education are what they are — for example, in math, science, history and language, some things simply are exactly how and what they are taught. But, on more open-to-debate type of learning, such as philosophy, ethics, civics or political science, there is room for personal views and it is just these views that we should encourage with an open mind.
This is a powerful lesson…
A high school class is learning about the Salem Witch Trials. Their teacher told them they were going to play a game.
“I’m going to come around and whisper to each of you whether you’re a witch or a regular person. Your goal is to build the largest group possible that does NOT have a witch in it. At the end, any group found to include a witch gets a failing grade.”
The teens dove into grilling each other. One fairly large group formed, but most of the students broke into small, exclusive groups, turning away anyone they thought gave off even a hint of guilt.
“Okay,” the teacher said. “You’ve got your groups. Time to find out which ones fail. All witches, please raise your hands.”
No one raised a hand.
The kids were confused and told the teacher he’d messed up the game. “Did I?” He asked.
“Was anyone in Salem an actual witch? Or did everyone just believe what they’d been told?”
And that is how you show kids how easy it is to divide a Community.
Shunning, scapegoating, placing blame and dividing will each destroy far more than they will protect.
Don’t allow fear to cloud your decisions. Use your own discernment. Trust your heart…and your gut.
The best teachers will show you where to look, but they won’t tell you what to see.
~Unknown
This lesson isn’t just about the Salem Witch trials — in fact, it teaches us so much more and this part of the lesson is the reason why: “Shunning, scapegoating, placing blame and dividing will each destroy far more than they will protect. Don’t allow fear to cloud your decisions. Use your own discernment. Trust your heart…and your gut.”
We learn our ABC’s and we learn math and science and for the most part, they are fairly straightforward. But we must also learn that throughout history, there has always been…and that continues through today…people who mislead, lie, cheat and manipulate, all to benefit themselves. When any person, but especially a political leader or political party, is vilifying one group after another, trust that the people they target are not the problem…they themselves are.
Lots of folks want to squash your happiness, positivity and hope — don’t let them. If we stay true to our principles and think for ourselves, these happiness thieves won’t stand a chance.
