Last Weekend Yoga Calm hosted a ground breaking workshop called "Boys, Coyotes and other Wild Things." As a co-facilitator I taught participants activities that empower boys. But even though I was teaching the class started a trip down memory lane and my own experiences in America's public schools. I will be sharing some of my more memorable experiences and numerous encounters with authority figures.
Lenny Cummings and I sat in the enormous chairs sobbing with fear and anxiety. We were both in kindergarten and this was our first trip to the principal's office. The fifth and sixth grade boys had been sure to fill our heads with tales of terror. They told us the principal would spank us so hard we wouldn't be able to sit down for days. (Although in retrospect we never sat for long at that age). They told us he would call our parents and then most likely our parents would spank us too. This was all too much to comprehend for two five year olds so we did what five year old boys do: We cried.
I remember sitting in the chair and being highly aware of how far my feet were from the ground. Both Lenny and I had to climb into thoseforbidding adult chairs and wait. The waiting made it worse and for some reason the chairs amplified the experience. Everything seemed big, just big. The desk was monolithic. The principal's chair seemed like the command center from Star Trek. We cried and looked at each other from time to time. We knew the end was near.
After three million years had passed (in kindergarden time) the principal strode in and sat behind his desk. He was big too. He looked over the top of his glasses and asked in a kind slow patient voice why we were so upset. Why were we crying? We recounted our fears. We told him we didn't want to be spanked by him or our parents and we cried. He laughed in a kind manner and said we were not going to get spanked. He asked who had told us we were going to be spanked but the code was already in us. We would never tell. He knew that of course but he had to try anyway.
Our crime against society? We had crowded in front of several classmates at the water fountain. Of course this was not our first such indiscretion. During story time Lenny and I would sneak closer and closer to the wooden trucks at the back of the classroom. As soon as the story was over we would leap on the....big....trucks and zoom around the classroom. We didn't pay much attention to who or what was in our way. I cannot to this day recall a thing about those stories (visual/kinesthetic learner that I am) but I remember well the joy of...big...wooden trucks.
The principal let us off with a gentle warning to be more considerate in lines and in the classroom and sent us on our way. This was only the first of many trips in several schools to commune with authority figures. I reflect on this and other experiences when I watch the boys in the schools I work in grapple with a baffling system......to be continued
I remember sitting in the chair and being highly aware of how far my feet were from the ground. Both Lenny and I had to climb into thoseforbidding adult chairs and wait. The waiting made it worse and for some reason the chairs amplified the experience. Everything seemed big, just big. The desk was monolithic. The principal's chair seemed like the command center from Star Trek. We cried and looked at each other from time to time. We knew the end was near.
After three million years had passed (in kindergarden time) the principal strode in and sat behind his desk. He was big too. He looked over the top of his glasses and asked in a kind slow patient voice why we were so upset. Why were we crying? We recounted our fears. We told him we didn't want to be spanked by him or our parents and we cried. He laughed in a kind manner and said we were not going to get spanked. He asked who had told us we were going to be spanked but the code was already in us. We would never tell. He knew that of course but he had to try anyway.
Our crime against society? We had crowded in front of several classmates at the water fountain. Of course this was not our first such indiscretion. During story time Lenny and I would sneak closer and closer to the wooden trucks at the back of the classroom. As soon as the story was over we would leap on the....big....trucks and zoom around the classroom. We didn't pay much attention to who or what was in our way. I cannot to this day recall a thing about those stories (visual/kinesthetic learner that I am) but I remember well the joy of...big...wooden trucks.
The principal let us off with a gentle warning to be more considerate in lines and in the classroom and sent us on our way. This was only the first of many trips in several schools to commune with authority figures. I reflect on this and other experiences when I watch the boys in the schools I work in grapple with a baffling system......to be continued
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