I had dinner with my “little brother,” last night. I put it in quotations because he is not my biological little brother. I am part of the Big Brothers Big Sisters Organization and it has been an amazing experience for me. I recommend it to anyone who has some extra time and wants to make a difference in a kid’s life.
But back to dinner. We went to Chili’s because he had never eaten there before. Kind of hard for us to imagine isn’t it? Our conversation began with stories from his week at school (he is 12 and in 7th grade). His stories are always entertaining because it reminds me of when I was in middle school. I hated middle school. The problems seemed so huge then but seem so miniscule now. After he told me that his football team went undefeated, the conversation took an interesting turn to politics. I was very excited to hear what point of view a 12 yr old Mexican boy had on the election.
I must preface this by saying that my little brother is no ordinary 12 yr old. He is ridiculously smart and his opinions and observations are remarkably mature for his age.
He asked me who I voted for and why. He then told me about the mock election that they had in his class and what he noticed. Two things he said were particularly disturbing to me:
1. He told me that his teacher had told them that Bush was wrong to take us into Iraq and there was evidence that Iraq had nothing to do with 911 and so on. Whether you agree or not is not the issue I have with this. The issue is that their young minds are so malleable at that age that they soak up everything the teacher says as gospel. I believe that it is the teacher’s duty to be completely unbiased in his/her dealings with the children.
But back to dinner. We went to Chili’s because he had never eaten there before. Kind of hard for us to imagine isn’t it? Our conversation began with stories from his week at school (he is 12 and in 7th grade). His stories are always entertaining because it reminds me of when I was in middle school. I hated middle school. The problems seemed so huge then but seem so miniscule now. After he told me that his football team went undefeated, the conversation took an interesting turn to politics. I was very excited to hear what point of view a 12 yr old Mexican boy had on the election.
I must preface this by saying that my little brother is no ordinary 12 yr old. He is ridiculously smart and his opinions and observations are remarkably mature for his age.
He asked me who I voted for and why. He then told me about the mock election that they had in his class and what he noticed. Two things he said were particularly disturbing to me:
1. He told me that his teacher had told them that Bush was wrong to take us into Iraq and there was evidence that Iraq had nothing to do with 911 and so on. Whether you agree or not is not the issue I have with this. The issue is that their young minds are so malleable at that age that they soak up everything the teacher says as gospel. I believe that it is the teacher’s duty to be completely unbiased in his/her dealings with the children.
2. He told me that there were two fellow classmates whose opinions on the election bothered him. One girl in his class wore a McCain shirt to school on Election Day. He asked her why she liked McCain. She replied that it was because he was white and looked like her grandpa. Another classmate said he liked Obama. When asked the same question, he responded that it was because he was black. I wonder where they got this undeniable reasoning. Their parents, maybe?
My little brother told me that those two children bothered him because he thought the candidate should be chosen based on what he stands for and not their race (I told you he was mature). When I asked him what he thought differentiated the two, he conceded he did not understand the specifics but that taxes and healthcare were a big part of it. HE IS 12!
He told me that he voted (in his mock election) for Obama. He said it was a tough choice because he thought both candidates would be good for the country, but he chose Obama because he wanted to see what it would be like to have a Democrat in the White House. There are so many adults in this country that lack the maturity of this special 12 yr old.
If you think you can’t learn anything from a child, you are mistaken. My little brother has taught me so much in our short time together and I can’t wait to see what else he will teach me.
Shortly after, he told me how he scared his brother by putting a snake in the bath tub with him. Good to know he’s not too grown up yet.
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