Lou and Zehren: What is Caring?
Though many of you have viewed this video on YouTube before, we've not taken much time to really talk about it, or think together about what is going on. So let's do that now!
What do you think is going on here?
What assumptions do you make about the experience of the child who at first receives care and then gives care?
What do you notice is the role of the adult?
5 responses to “Lou and Zehren: What is Caring?”
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I feel like I am watching a caring community in action, a community in which children model care and compassion for each other. I am so curious about how this community was created in the first place. Do the adults celebrate caring behavior? Do they model caring behavior? Do they pay attention differently when these behaviors are happening in the community? How much of this community culture comes from the children themselves?
Persistence. The boy with the bug coat didn’t give up trying to find out what was wrong even when the friend didn’t seem to want to tell. In second segment, I liked watching another child (rather than an adult) do the comforting and bring the sad child into the circle. Would like to know the teaching/guiding that preceded that interaction. How was that kind of caring modeled or taught?
I loved this video! What a beautiful thing to capture. What I like best though is that children don’t do anything to deny or “fix” each other’s feelings. The first little boy understood his friend’s desire for his “bug coat”. He didn’t offer a solution like, “Maybe your mom can get you one.” or make a statement like “Well, this one’s mine.” He just witnessed his friend’s sadness, then shared something interesting with him and the two boys moved on. Children allow themselves to feel things we spend time resisting and the feelings seem to finish their trajectory and are gone.
The boys in the photos have obviously experienced compassion and they are able to think outside themselves the help others. These are really nice clips for showing the caring nature of young children.
Listening, not fixing. Being there, not taking over. Watching with your heart. Byrd Baylor writes beautiful books that share compassion for oneself and for others and the earth. If I start with myself I will be more available for empathy and compassion with my children.