Children have a blessed capacity to restore our faith in the future. Paraphrasing American poet, Carl Sandburg, they truly do represent God’s opinion that the world should go on. I was especially glad of their company this week with the very sad news coming from Paris of the attack on the satirical cartoon magazine. The snow always seems to bring out the best in the children. On Wednesday morning I was greeted by a vivacious third grader who recounted joyfully her “epic” snow day on Tuesday, complete with sledding accidents and escapades. During recess, in frigid temperatures, they embraced, with glee, the potential for fun of the new fallen snow, sometimes letting their enthusiasm get the better of them, but demonstrating all the while the purpose and value of childlike play.
I am often struck at how much more kind and thoughtful children are today than I remember as a child. I can remember many fights and feuds from my own childhood, and a level of social conflict, natural selection, and survival of the fittest that would have made more sense in a Darwinian study of the animal kingdom. Children today are generally much more kind to each other, and they have a highly developed capacity for empathy. They are well aware of their ability and responsibility to make the world a better place. Lower school students sometimes come to me deeply concerned about what are, in the vast majority of cases, relatively minor indiscretions, and it is a good thing that they have a lower tolerance for cruelty than perhaps some of us had.
The goodness in children is very apparent in their sweet new year’s resolutions. They tell me about wanting to get better at their favorite sport, getting up early, but also about wanting to be more patient with siblings and friends, helping more at home, and working hard at school. And we have seen their kindness in abundance in the typically warm and sincere welcome they have given to the three new students that have joined us in Lower School this week. Sisters Stefanie and Tiffany Sun have moved to the area with their family from Richmond; Stephanie joining Ms. Myers’ fourth grade class, Tiffany to Mrs. Eby’s sixth grade homeroom. Maggie Brett-Major comes from the Washington area originally, but she has spent the past two years with her family in Geneva, Switzerland; she will join Mr. Howard’s fifth grade class. I have no doubts that our girls will help them see Holton as their new home in no time.
An Irish blessing for the New Year: May your right hand always be stretched out in friendship and never in want.
Patrick Bane Lower School Director