Quaker Kids Say the Darnedest Things

Teaching the young ones in our meeting, I think often of Art Linkletter’s show that I watched when I was young. Because of the small number of youth and lack of volunteers the children meet together with ages ranging from 2 to 14. Most of the time the older children are wonderful at helping the young ones with crafts and games. However, there are hectic, unruly days when I wonder if anyone has heard a word I’ve said.

One morning when the kids seemed especially noisy and inattentive, I was trying to get the group to understand the concept of diversity. As I escorted the children in to join the adults during the final ten minutes of meeting for worship, I felt quite frustrated, even wondering, "Why do I bother trying to teach these kids?" After we settled into the silence a four-year-old stood. His grandfather looked anxious, trying to decide if he should grab his grandson before he took off running around the room. Instead, this wise little boy looked up at the ceiling and said, "I have brown eyes and Michael’s eyes are blue, but that doesn’t make me any better than him." Then he sat back down. My eyes welled with tears as I realized that, through all the turmoil during the lesson, some ideas still got through.

On another occasion, I was going through my normal routine with the children before we headed into meeting for worship. This included a moment of stillness and a reminder that they need to be quiet when they enter the meeting room. I emphasized not talking aloud until the worship had ended. After the children had settled into their parents’ arms, an elder member stood to minister. The moment this white-haired gentleman opened his mouth, one of my littlest ones hissed disapprovingly, "Quiet—you’re not supposed to talk!"

Sometimes I underestimate the intelligence of our children, and how much they pick up from their parents and other adults in the meeting. One First Day, shortly before the start of the Iraq war, I taught a lesson on cooperation. We talked about working together and discussed various ways of cooperating. The children spoke of things like passing the ball in a basketball game rather than always trying to shoot. Then I asked for examples of not cooperating. One bright-eyed four-year- old declared loudly, "Bush doesn’t cooperate with the UN." Once I swallowed my surprise, we continued with our discussion. I had become more aware of how influential our speech and actions are on our youth.

Spending time with these amazing children is a blessing and I often wonder who is the real teacher.