I work at my church's youth program, in the Kindergarten class. We have a relatively small group, but a bunch of kids whom I'd forgotten how much I have an affection for.
Today we learned about caring for babies, but the lesson was more than that. The teacher, Shanan, began by showing the class a baby doll, ostensibily the one we were going to practice washing. But the teacher, who is a lesbian, began to tell the story of her friend William, who once brought a doll to preschool. She said that all the other kids had laughed at him. And then she asked our class if they would laugh if they were in the same class.
Everyone said no. Then, the teacher asked if they thought dolls were something that only girls could play with, or if boys could play with them too. The answer was both. As the discussion progressed, the kids made it very clear to us that it was okay for kids to play with whatever toys they wanted, and that toys, jobs, things which most other kids would think of as male or female--anyone could be.
They're smart kids. And I really wish that everyone could be taught tolerance and respect for diversity. I know that everyone can't, but I feel that the world would be a much better place. If we can all try to be more tolerate, have more respect for each other's differances...there are so many things which could be avoided, many of them involving violence.
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All The World's a Stage
But the play is badly cast.
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Cherubino
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