Last night I went to the
supermarket to buy some things I needed to make a cake (yes! me about to make a
cake, awkward, isn’t it?). Well, as hard as it may seem, I was there, shopping
and pretending to be the perfect housewife
who compares prices at the supermarket gondola shelves and who knows exactly what is
best and for what.
When I left the supermarket, I walked back home
and, on my way, I witnessed something which: scared me in the first place, and set
me thinking about our society.
I saw three boys (they were not
older than my 12-year-old sister) running out of a drugstore. Right after them,
the shop’s owner came out of the place. Of course the woman could not follow
them since she couldn’t leave the store. The poor lady was crying and her cry
resembled impotence more than fear. The
boys had stolen some sweets and some drinks (not much if we think about money
and the cost of the objects, but a lot if we think of what they were doing at
their age). I felt helpless.
That night I couldn’t stop
thinking of what it is that WE as a society, as a community, as human beings
are doing wrong. Who is to blame for those children? Is it government?, is it parents?, is it us?
I couldn’t help but feel a
little bit of guilt and shame for those little boys. I am about to become a
teacher, and, when I saw those children I thought and imagined they could be my
students.
I really feel something should
be done. I think some policies should be made to control the situation and to provide
all children with their rights. Children like those should be at home, with
their parents, preparing to go to school, being cared for, having a shower,
having dinner; they shouldn’t be in the street, stealing. Many things came to
my mind and now I’m wrapped in the feeling of guilt and shame.
WHAT IS HAPPENING TO US? Where is our sense of
prosperity, our sense of future? What can we do? Where do we start? For the
time being, I will start by teaching my students not just English.
It's really a complicate situation. The other day something similar happened to me at Illia Av. Some children (they were seven or eight) stole something to a man is the street. They were very young, and you realize that someone older is telling them what to do. I think they do not have other choice, because that's the way they have been bred. I also think education is the best way of improving our society, but if you don't have anything to eat, you won't care about your homework.
ReplyDeleteI agree with you girls. EDUCATION IS THE KEY.
ReplyDeleteThese kids are not kids any longer. They've lost their innocence or someone else has stolen it. But there are others that do it by themselves and they enjoy stealing and thinking that they are superior because of that. This also has to do with the way in which they were educated.
What is happening to us? Sadly, we are losing the pillars of any society or community: values.
Dear Nadine, I couldn´t agree more!
ReplyDeleteThis idea you have is quite generous, and as far as I am concerned, quite right: It is not the children´s guilt, in fact. Evidently, those children are exposed to certain reality which goes beyond the possibilities they have to react favourably and behave "well". Those children do not have the same possibilities of our relatives, who had been raised inside a providing family. They do not know how to reorganize their lives and make something good out of their time.
That is why I am against the reduction of the age to face crime punishment: those kinds of measures are only destined to fill in our jails with young people, without solving the real problem.
Nadine: When I read what you posted, I felt impotent as well as regards the poor lady who was robbed. Maybe she cried not because of the things stolen but because of the same reason you felt bad: because they were children.
ReplyDeleteIt happens to me the same with those little kids who are obliged by their parents or grandparents to beg and knock on every door asking for something to eat. But it bothers me the most when they are obliged to ask for money and, if they do not get any, their parents/grandparents harshly punish them.
It is sad to see that our society is full with insecurity and lack of education on the part of children and adolescents. It is even sadder to see that the parents of those kids are not interested in teaching them values, principles, about morality. I have the hope that one day this reality will change and, a lot, may depend on us as teachers!!
As you have written Nadine, education represents that tiny spark in the middle of the dark. But it is also true to say that is everybody´s responsability. From the government to each of the families. Instead of wasting money in technological stuff polititians should invest money in EDUCATION POLICIES. And with this I´m not just making reference to schools and students, but also teachers. Money should be invested in order to teach and promote critical thinking among teachers. Even though we are there, in a clasroom, just to teach students, our job goes beyond that. Young kids and teenagers represent the only hope for a big change in our country :)
ReplyDeleteSo far I have never been robbed, thanks God, So I can't imagine how the woman felt, I can just guess that she felt impotent because there was nothing she could do; besides, if she did something she would probably be risking her life. What I don't understand why feeling guilty and shameful? I can only feel sorry for those teenagers, who have lost their innocence as Agustina said.
ReplyDelete