Children Learning Tolerance

It is interesting to me, how children learn tolerance and acceptance of special needs students or adults. While sitting at a restaurant at lunch today, a group of people came in together on a bus. They were all adults with special needs. They were making loud noises and walking close to other people and moving their arms all around.

My daughter and her friends were staring and trying to strain their necks to stare...my daughter started to make a comment to her friends when I looked at her and said, "You are not going to embarrass yourself and me are you? If your dad or sister or friend or mother had those conditions would you make fun of us?" She sheepishly said, "no.." Then do not embarrass yourself right now."

I wonder if that was the right thing to do. Now, one of the gentleman was yelling out moaning noises and I could tell it was making the girls uncomfortable. I said, "He may not go out very often and could be scared....like a baby that cries because they cannot speak words....he may be the same."

The girls accepted that and did not really react after that. I guess children learn empathy and tolerance and acceptance through example...and that learning is hands-on. There is not a whole lot I can say or do that will prepare them for what/who they may encounter throughout their lives. If anything, I hope to provide my girls with the tools (and common sense) to deal with life's little challenges. We'll see as they get old...

Cell Phone Etiquette - Can you hear me NOW?!"

I hate it when people chat on their cell phones on the airplane, JUST before take off, in elevators, in the grocery store checkout line...actually in any line that involves someone needing to have both hands to make the rest of the line waiters move forward. I can't STAND IT when phones ring in meetings, especially when the user has chosen the most annoying version of a familiar show tune... it is like listening to a 20 second clip of elevator music over and over again...but much much worse. Don't people realize that if you push ALMOST any button on your cell phone it will silence it? Then you turn it off...so it does not ring again...the same person will call back thinking they were cut off...

So, if you have a cell phone, please be polite to the poor people around you that have to listen to you say...."can you hear me NOW?"

I have a cell phone...I don't like using it in public...I excuse myself...like EVERYONE SHOULD...

Welcome

This, of course, is my blog. I want to use this so I can familiarize myself with blogging more. Hopefully I will use it.

Tech related, I attended the National Educator's Computing Conference in this week in Atlanta. Very cool stuff.