From the mouths of babes…here is what I learned about our schools from my 11 year old.

Drew and I went to see Hidden Figures. I posted about his shock and awe on facebook. I started to think further and I got angry.

Our children are wise, and they listen, they learn, and they care about each other. In this amazing world of diversity awareness that we live in today, I applaud how accepting our youth are (mostly) of each other.

Then I got to thinking…Our children are not taught in school just how painfully awful segretation and slavery was. They are given just enough of the history lesson to get by but definitly not to FEEL the horror of how people were treated. How do I know this? Because of the questions he asked me during this movie.

It is apalling that at any point in time one human being thinks it is ok to treat another human being in that way. Period. My son was horrified.

SO, I pondered just how much of this he didn’t know about — because this isn’t what we discuss at home regularly, (although we probably should). I thought about his friends that had families that lived through this pain. I can imagine how these stories are told. With sadness and anger, and hope for continued change and forward progress. It’s a different dinner time topic than at my house.

Drew’s Birthday party with his friends.

Then I looked at how so many people have conflicting views on race, black lives matter, etc. I watch the anger and toxicity spew out everyhere. I see so many frustrated supporters and an equal amount of confused bystanders.

I want my son to be taught in school about the truth behind the times when people of color were taken for granted, treated completely unfairly and oppressed. I want him to feel as much of that as possible. I want him to understand. I think our youth of today need to experience a deeper understanding of yesterday in order to prevent going back in that direction.

When you look at riots and protests and marches, what do you see?

I see people desperate for change, and fearful of loosing momentum that has been gained. I see passion for creating a better tomorrow for those that we love. I think we all want that. There is something to be said about taking a walk in another’s shoes before passing judgment.

We cannot expect this generation to understand and respect the plights of all the other ethnicities of their friends, unless we teach them. If we don’t teach them while they are young, then when they become young adults we can’t be shocked when they argue and negate these issues they were never taught to understand.

Our children speak the truth don’t they? We better start listening.