I didn't think I'd be back to my computer today, but here I am after all. Today I got to spend the day with around 50-70 young teens (12-14 years old) in an event called Challenge Day. It was a chance for them to get to share very personal things about their lives with classmates and the adult facilitators of which I was one. I can't say much more than that because they ask us to keep the day confidential, but if you do a Google search on "Challenge Day," you can find their website and learn more about it. Anyway, I need to debrief myself, so thought I'd come here and make a post.
Today's quote isn't a quote, per se, it's the title of a chapter from the book The Three Musketeers by Alexandre Dumas:
"All Cats are Grey in the Dark."
All cats are grey in the dark. If you put a bunch of cats in a room with no light, all you will see are grey cat-like shapes. You can't tell which ones are brown, white, orange, black, etc. They are all the same color and are no different from one another. Kids are the same way. If you look at a group of kids and don't take the time to get to know them, you are putting them in a room and leaving the light off. You can't tell which ones are doing okay, which ones just need a friendly word, and which ones are crying out for help but don't know how to make themselves heard.
I learned so much today and my heart is absolutely breaking for some of these kids. I work with some of them on a daily basis and have never learned as much about them as I did today. The question is, now that I've had the light turned on for me, what do I do with the information I have learned about these proverbial cats? How do I make the library a safe place for these young teens to come to, but still enforce the rules? How do I let them be themselves?
I encourage you today to take a look around you. Is there a group of "cats" that you have put in a dark room? If so, turn on the light. What you learn about those around you may surprise and it will definitely change your life.
Until later
Juli
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