Staying Out of Trouble
Categories: Léo’s Insights 2019-2020, Miscellaneous
Isn’t it funny how children can ask the funniest questions? Sometimes, their questions are very astute. In fact, children have the ability to see things without the clutter of life that often blinds us from seeing things as obviously as they do.
I find children’s questions to be refreshing in that they often cause us to face reality head on, encouraging us to take another, more objective, look at particular issues.
Many years ago, my youngest son asked me a very simple question. I believe we had been watching a video where someone got their nose punched. This scene obviously bothered him as he had never been exposed to that kind of activity and he could not get his young mind to entertain the notion of settling a dispute in this way.
His question was one you would expect from a child. He asked me if I had ever been punched in the nose. Fortunately, I could truthfully say that I had not experienced such an event in my life. He then asked me if I had ever punched anyone in the nose. Fair enough, getting punched and throwing punches are related, yet two different things, right?
Again, I was happy to say that I had never punched anyone in the nose, either. I was tempted to tell him that I had occasionally entertained retribution, but never violence. However, I realized that this was perhaps a bit more information than what his young mind could process.
BUT, never underestimate a child’s intelligence and perception. Before I could dismiss this discussion and carry on with my work, he asked another very interesting question which caught me off guard. I had never considered this question, yet I had an easy answer.
When he asked why I had never had my nose punched, I simply answered with “because I never went to or occupied places where people punched noses”!
This question certainly got me thinking and I found it amazing how we can learn a lesson through one experience and fail to apply it to other events and situations in our lives. I am sure that, by now, you are asking what in the world does nose punching have to do with home education? Everything, if we apply the lesson learned.
Let’s pretend (if necessary) that you are home educated yourself. And, let’s assume that you are, in turn, educating your own children at home. Now let us imagine that one of your children has suddenly been exposed to peer pressure or bullying or some other negative by-product of school after watching a video where he sees these things for the first time.
How would you answer his/her question of whether or not you had to deal with these things in school? Wouldn’t it be nice to be able to say, “no, not really”? And, wouldn’t it be great to be able to answer the why part of this question with “I never attended school where these kinds of negative issues happen”?
There are a few morals to this story. First of all, I hope you all got the message that punching noses is an activity best to be avoided. Aside from that, the main moral is that the best way to avoid or reduce the possibility of your children experiencing needless negative things at school is simply to avoid sending them to school in the first place.
I will leave you to fill in the blank on what all those negative things could possibly be and pray that you determine to stay away from places where “people punch noses” or “others negatively influence children.”
Previous Post: Confusing Opinion with Fact
Next Post: Yield Not to Temptation