One of the school’s Five Pillars is that of
“acharayut,” responsibility. Frequently we discuss it in terms of our
collective responsibility to klal Yisrael, the Jewish people, as well as our
community and our Country. There is another important way in which to see
this, that of our responsibility to ourselves, to making the right choices to
help us be appropriate, our responsibility to think for ourselves.
This past week, I spent a chunk of time
working with a group of students who collectively made poor choices. The
group of students together acted unkindly and inappropriately. We were
concerned because each child went along with a group decision that as
individuals they certainly would have questioned or recognized as unkind.
The children, even though they knew what they were doing was wrong,
participated because others were doing it, falling prey to peer pressure.
What we stressed to the children (in addition
to the unsuitability of the action) was that they must think for themselves,
only do what they know is correct, not listen to others when they know that
it’s wrong. As I spoke to each of the children the following day, after
the children had written apologies for their behavior and discussed it with
their parents, each of them said something to the effect of “That’s what my
parents said!” (Hooray!!! J)
One of our goals is to give our students the
courage and the ability to “just say no,” not to participate in unacceptable
activities, not to listen to their friends when they know it’s wrong!
It’s akin to “would you run into the middle of traffic if your friends told you
to?” Except that we’re preparing them for later on – when they will
possibly be faced with more difficult decisions as teenagers. The time to start
this education is now. “Think for yourself.”
I appreciate the support from our parents in
reiterating this message and helping teach our children to make good choices.
Shabbat Shalom.
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