Rights

Even as a child I was aware of my rights.. and also willing to stand up for them. I remember being sent to the office several times because I was refused access to the bathroom when I needed to go.. I began to stop asking, I'd just inform the teacher that I was going to use the bathroom. This took the power away from her and honored my own needs. I'd walk out and she would push the button and call down to the office. In the end, the bathroom battle was won by me, no one could tell me with a straight face why I could not relieve myself as by body saw fit.  Fast forward many moons later and I find myself dealing with the same thing with my children.  When they complained to me that their basic needs are not being met I shared my experience with them. I have permitted them to inform their teacher that they HAVE to use the restroom and then when refused permission I gave them permission to go.    I called the school to get some sort of clarity on the issue because unlike me, my children have been so jaded by the system that they fear standing up for their own rights, they tell me all of the consequences.

 I had consequences too but in my eyes, my rights were worth the fight.   What does this say? What is happening to the children today? This fear and this refusal to protect their own basic rights.. this silence in the face of social injustice.. Well in talking with the teacher I soon found out how such a tight grip had wrapped itself around my children.. The teacher revealed to me that her hands were tied. It was the principle, he did not  want children using the bathrooms, he felt it was taking away from class time and would hurt test scores.. the same test scores that allocated money to schools in exchange for high numbers. I immediately settled in my mind that I would Opt my children out of such tests that resulted in the loss of their basic needs being met. 

I was met with two children who cried and begged to take a TEST... they had been so brainwashed into thinking that they would be punished, they would not be rewarded, they would not pass on to the next grade, they would have to sit in the office for hours on end separated from friends and worst of all, they would not help their school to "get the money". I realized that this issue ran deep, into the very bloodline of the public school system and the psyche of my children. 

We spend so much time empowering even the youngest children in our program to know and stand up for their rights. The social development that results in such an environment of respect and trust is at the core of the work we do. These children leave us and enter into a world where many will try to take those powers away from them. 

 If children are our future, imagine a world lead and run by people who have been taught to feel and be powerless, that are silenced and void of opinion. 

Children need as many ways as possible to feel and be powerful, express their points of view, have autonomy over their actions, relish in the joys and suffer the natural consequences . 

I know that through our work with these children each day by allowing and encouraging them to express their feelings and thoughts be them in line with or opposed to our own line of thinking, we are preparing them to question injustice and be active citizens in their community. 

Our work is important, more than we know... 

-Lakisha Reid 

Owner/Educator 

Discovery Early Learning Center 

www.facebook.com/Discoveryearlylearning

Founder of Play Empowers ( Sharing the POWER of PLAY)