It's been a great year in SLC!

For my last blog post of the year, I thought I'd repost some of the great comments we've been getting from students and staff at our Salt Lake Valley schools.  These stories were posted on our internal website by our coaches.  Enjoy!

Oct 7

I was wandering around during indoor recess time yesterday and walked by a class doing their indoor PE time.  They were playing Over Under Kickball! They had just learned it from CGT (Class Game Time) and were using it on their own time. Great to see.

Oct 18

I was walking into the gym to gather my equipment for recess, when I noticed a class was playing elbow tag during their PE time. I asked the teacher if she started the game, and she told me the students started it. They enjoyed the game so much during CGT that they asked the PE teacher if they could play it. They taught her the game and started it themselves.

Oct 19

Today a teacher told me she used to dread recess duty, but now she looks forward to it. She loves how the kids are engaged and not fighting. She thinks Playworks has already made a noticeable difference at the school.

Nov 2

Today at recess I had a random bucket of colorful bean bags. A first grade student grabbed the bucket and went over to the map of the US. He started tossing the bean bags onto the states that were the same color as the bag. It was a great game that attracted ten other students. As the students tossed the bags, I quizzed them on their states. It was a great game and a great learning activity. I am going to start putting out random equipment to see what the students invent with it!

Nov 9

Played "I Love My Neighbor" in CGT with a group of 3rd graders and the student in the middle said "I love my neighbor who loves Coach Jaime!" And everyone moved. Super cute and awesome.

Nov 9

I test out new games with my ASP (After School Program) kids to figure out how to explain activities to them and if the games are any fun, etc, so the ASP kids know a lot  more games then everyone else. They have been taking their favorite games from ASP and playing/teaching them to other kids at normal recess time! Really cool to see.

Nov 9

During ASP I took a moment to lead one of my students favorite songs. One of the students said "Coach Vee, I want to lead the song". I let this student lead and was thrilled to learn that all of my students not only knew the song ,but took turns leading it as well. So fun! After all this time I realized I need to take more time to let my students take more active leadership roles.

Nov 9

For the past three weeks I have been hyping up "high fives" and "nice tries" on our play paradise at Lincoln. A para (para-professional) that helps with lunch recess said to me "Coach Vee, your energy is really changing the students. Today during my reading group one of my students pronounced a word wrong, and his reading partner gave him a "high five" and said "nice try!" Made my whole day!

Nov 9

One of the questions on the Junior Coach application form is “Why do you want to be a Junior Coach?” One of my students who applied answered the question, "When I grow up, I want to be a coach because Cpach Vee helps so many kids. It's like being a super hero!" I chose this student to be a JC, and she rocks our tag circle each and everyday!!

Nov 11

During ASP I took my third and fourth grade classes to play soccer. They decided to pick their team names. Team 1 named themselves "Playworks" and Team 2 named themselves "The Lincoln Way" (Respect, Inclusion, High Fives, Nice Tries, etc is the "Lincoln Way). When I asked them why they picked these names, they said it was because they love Playworks and playing respectfully. I could only smile!!

Nov 14

Went to an after school teachers council meeting yesterday to discuss using only my equipment on the recess playground. All of the teachers were in favor after I explained the benefits (sharing, playing together, increase interaction between students, etc.)  A few of the teachers told me they had stopped giving out equipment a while ago and had noticed their kids all playing together, being respectful to each other and choosing to play group games during their individual recess time, which they attributed to Playworks and what was happening at recess.

Nov 16

I walked into the building this morning and instantly was getting high fives and compliments from teachers about my JC's. I took a sick day and my JC's really stepped up their game. Teachers told me they asked for help to get into our office. They set up recess for the day and totally ran our program without me. To my surprise, they also lead all of our school cheers for cool down at the end of each recess. Teachers said they were blown away when they were able to cool down over 150 students at our last recess. WOW! I feel so proud to be back today! When I say Lincoln. . .You say PRIDE!!

Nov 16

During class game time today, I heard a boy exclaim, "This is kinda fun!" It soon progressed to "This is fun!" followed by "This is cool!" and ending with "Why do we have to stop?"

Nov 16

The recess duty at my school approached me and told me how much of a change she had seen in students at Hillsdale. I said I hope that the program is making a difference and she responded by saying, "A sixth grade girl moved to this school and wouldn't smile at anybody, she would hardly say a word, now she smiles, gives high fives and plays four square every day. I see the improvement!" It made me realize that I don't see the change because I am just getting to know these kids, but it's wonderful to see a game put a smile on a child's face.

Nov 18

Today at recess I brought out a new piece of equipment the office gave me not knowing what do with it, a GIANT volleyball a good 15" in diameter. I put in on the playground and my 5 and 6 grades invented a game using the ball. Everyone collaborated on the rules and it was an amazing group effort! Look out for Air Ball taking off at Meadowlark!

Nov 22

Today one of the 5th grade classes was making notes on those Thanksgiving themed cut-outs (turkeys/those horns that have food in them). A group of the kids made theirs for me. Here is my favorite one: 
"Dear Coach Jaime, Thank you for teaching us new games for PE. Also thank you for helping us on the playground. This is the best year for me because you came for the Playworks. This school would not be the same without you."

Nov 28

I saw a 1st grader pouting during a basketball game. Another 1st grader came up and said, "It is not about winning and losing. It is about both and having fun. If you lose, no big deal. If you win, great." I gave her a much earned high-five for her wisdom.

Dec 12

"Thanks for making time for me and my class on Thursday. My class really enjoys their Playworks time, so if they missed it, they would be upset. We'll be there at 9:10.” -Email from a teacher in regard to me rescheduling their CGT because of an assembly.

Thanks for making 2011 a great year!  Happy Holidays from Playworks SLC.

A Little Holiday Spirit

The holiday season is upon us. I am appalled, once again, by the utter madness of Black Friday.  It seems like every year I hear about someone being trampled or robbed or shot as the holiday rush begins.  This year, the big story was about a woman who pepper sprayed fellow shoppers over an X-box.  To me, these things seem to be in direct conflict with the notion of goodwill and fellowship I traditionally associate with the holiday season, but I recognize that to some, this is what the holidays are about: fighting with family, making a huge profit on irrational consumer behavior, and getting the one awesome thing you want for Christmas or Hanukkah or Kwanzaa...

Gift giving goes back thousands of years to various civilizations, and the idea seems to be that a person shows his or her appreciation for someone by giving him or her something special.  The holiday season has a certain ceremonial aspect to it in this regard.  For many of us, it's the one time all year that we will go out of our way to say thank you to people we ordinarily take for granted.  I'm giving my son's daycare provider a hand-made quilt for Christmas this year, and I admit it will be the first time I've gone out of my way to let her know I appreciate what she does for my family.  Perhaps you will be giving similar tokens of appreciation.

This aspect of gift giving is, in my opinion, a good idea, but the tradition of gift giving is less often about appreciation these days than about an obligation.  Many of us feel bound by an unspoken code to give everyone we know a gift regardless of whether that gift is heartfelt or not, and many of us, too, have used the holiday season as an excuse to get the toy or gadget or whatever thing it is we feel we deserve.  

For parents, the desire to fulfill our children's most frantic desires by buying the toy that is too expensive to justify at any other time of year is bound up with our self worth.  If we can purchase an X-box or an iPad for our sons and daughters, we consider ourselves good parents, but if we can't, we are utter failures.

All of these aspects contribute to the insanity of an event like Black Friday, and all of these impulses are, at some level, justifiable or at least understandable, but we are missing something important when we allow ourselves to sink into crazy pants land.  We are missing an opportunity to make the holidays meaningful and important in a manner that transcends material possessions.

We must ask ourselves what lessons our children are taking from the holidays.  Do they see our intentions, our deepest wishes for them, that they will be happy and healthy?  Do they see our kindness and generosity?  Or is it something else that they see when we buy meaningless gifts for people solely because we think we owe it to them?  

I'd like to encourage you to do something rather different this holiday season.  Instead of buying things, volunteer.  You can volunteer at soup kitchens or food banks or shelters or even at your child's school.  Many teachers would really appreciate a helping hand in their classrooms, and if your school is a Playworks school, you can volunteer with us out on the playground.  All you have to do is play a few games, and you will be contributing to something meaningful and valuable.  Plus, your kids will see you doing it, and that will go a long way towards communicating what the holiday season is really all about.

Don't feel like volunteering or can't find the time, consider a donation or microvolunteer by sharing information about a cause you support with people you know.  Sometimes networking is just as good as giving.

Happy Holidays from Playworks SLC

Time spent wearing headphones

The students we work with in Salt Lake are a really friendly and outgoing bunch of kids.  Whenever I head out to our schools, it’s easy to strike up conversations with them and easy to get them to play games.  There are a few kids I know by name and more that I know by sight. We usually smile and wave at each other whenever I’m out at recess, but outside of school, things are different.  I see a lot of kids I know from school in grocery stores and parks, but I hardly ever get to talk with them because they’re wearing headphones.

The schools we work in here all have policies that ban headphones on school grounds, which I think is great, but it seems to me that as soon as kids step over the line that divides the blacktop playground from the sidewalk, their ears are suddenly filled with plastic.  I can relate.

I forgot my headphones this morning and so my mp3 player is pretty much useless.  I am still keeping it in my pocket like a child's security blanket, but the comfort it gives me is somewhat limited.  Typically, I wear headphones most of the day.  I go to the store in headphones.  I snowboard in headphones.  When I ride my bike to work, I wear them.  If I go on a walk I wear them.  I wear them at my desk whenever I don't need to talk to others.  I even wear them sometimes when I watch TV.  

There are a number of reasons I love my headphones.  I love music.  That's number one.  I'll listen to just about anything, but a good two part harmony between a lead female vocalist and a male backup is, perhaps the best sound I can think of, followed closely by a really good electric guitar solo.  I listen to music a lot and it gives me great joy, which seems perfectly healthy to me.  Music has a lot of benefits.  It relieves stress, it lowers blood pressure, and it makes people feel good.  Studies show that listening to music in early childhood improves kids aptitude for math later in life.  Music is good.

But my headphones are not all about music.  They are also a way for me to avoid social interaction, and they couch me in a world that is both personal and generic.  I don't pay nearly as much attention to my surroundings when I wear my headphones, nor do I pay as much attention to my fellow human beings.  As a result, I think I may be less sympathetic, less friendly, and less aware than I ought to be.   

This morning, for example, as I was biking to work, I noticed myself looking around much more than I normally do because of the noise of engines approaching from behind.  At times, I slowed down to allow a car to merge or waited longer than normal to make a turn because I could hear a car coming from an unexpected direction.  It occurred to me that I may be less safe in traffic on days when I remember my headphones.

I also said hello to the receptionist in our building this morning.  She smiled and returned the greeting.  On other days, I would have missed that interaction.  This one day without headphones had me wondering what else I've been missing.

What does this have to do with play?  Well, it's not just me who's been wearing headphones.  More and more I notice kids (and adults too) wearing headphones in public places like grocery stores, sidewalks, and playgrounds.  I see them wearing headphones while talking to their parents, interacting with their siblings and hanging out with their friends.  Personal music has become ubiquitous.

It's as if all of us have begun to exist in our own personal worlds of sound.  We interact with other people, but at the same time we're shielded from social obligations and if we don't seem fully engaged, we have an excuse.  It's the music.

Play requires us to be engaged, and the games I love most require complex social interactions.  Headphones make this kind of interaction impossible.  So more headphones means fewer awesome group games.  More importantly, playing games is one of the best ways I know to start deep, meaningful friendships.  Without the possibility of play, I find that I am lonely and isolated.  I'm not great friends with everyone I've ever interacted with or everyone who’s ever played a game with me, but people who have cut themselves off from the possibility of talking with me, seem to be poor candidates for a friendship.  Plus, the friends I do have, including some of the students I know here in Salt Lake seem cut off from me.  We choose to be cut off from each other.  I find myself wondering if this is healthy, and, I wonder, what (and who) I’ve missed out on because I had plastic in my ears?

Playing games is inherently creative.

Sometimes, play takes us in unexpected directions. A game of catch becomes show of impressive leaps and diving catches. Tag morphs into Hide and Seek, which then becomes imaginative play. The hider becomes as a crook and the seekers the police. Or players find a hiding place so spectacular, it sparks a new story. When I was young, we had a tree house where inventive and adventurous games came alive.

In short, playing games is, inherently, a creative exercise. When we play, we assume a role and interpret that role. Even in a simple game of Sharks and Minnows, players decide how to act. The shark may run fast or slow, dart left or right, wait or chase. The minnows can slow down and taunt the shark or to play it safe and run. They can act as a group or strike out on their own. In some cases, a minnow may let the shark catch them so they can take on a new role.

Games demand that we act within a set of rules, but beyond that, players may do as they wish. If a kickball player wants to run the bases like a monkey, she can. If a four square player only wants to use his left hand, that's perfectly acceptable. Not only do we have the freedom to adapt our roles within a game, but games can favor players who experiment with their roles. The most successful wall ball player might not be the strongest or fastest, but the student who invents a new way to hit the ball, perhaps at an odd angle or by faking a huge hit and executing a smaller move, fooling her opponent. Games ask us to think strategically and that requires creativity.

Consider this story from Stansbury Elementary.  

Today at recess I had a random bucket of colorful bean bags. A first grade student grabbed the bucket and went over to the map of the United States. He started tossing the bean bags onto the states that were the same color as the bag. It attracted ten other students. As the students tossed the bags, I quizzed them on those states. It was a fun game and a great learning activity. I plan to continue putting out random equipment to see what the students invent!

This student didn't just innovate within the rules of a game; he invented a completely new one. Coach Raven also molded the game by asking students to name the states. All the participants used creativity in their play by thinking in a new direction, inventing games and letting their curiosity and ingenuity shine. Wonderful to see youth taking play to the next level!

A Rant for Hockey!

Let's take a moment to think about hockey...

I am not a hockey player.  I just can't figure out how to negotiate the skates and the ice.  I fall down, and when I don't fall down, I wobble and stand as still as I can.  I love to watch hockey, though.  It's a fast, exciting game.  I never see a hockey game and think, “I could do that.”  Instead I think, “wow, that's amazing.”  Players are constantly switching direction, skating backwards one moment and then tearing down the ice at full speed the next, running headlong into the boards, and it's not just skating.  In addition to riding two thin metal blades over the ice with nothing less than grace, hockey players have to master the wrist shot, the slap shot, and other more complicated moves with a stick and a puck.  If you've ever played street hockey or lacrosse, you know how weird and foreign a stick can feel.  Many sports don't bother with these implements.  In football and basketball, players use their hands.  In soccer, it's the feet.  Baseball has bats and gloves, but the bat is more of a blunt object than the hockey stick and gloves don't require as much practice to get used to.  A hockey stick, by comparison, can feel very foreign, like a prosthetic limb, grafted onto the end of the arm.  It takes practice to get used to using a hockey stick, and using it well is a real skill.  I'm certainly not knocking other sports.  I'm a soccer player myself and a huge baseball fan, but hockey simply astounds me in a way that no other sport could.  I mean, c'mon, it's played on ice!!!

The other thing about hockey is that it is under appreciated by many here in the United States.  Americans love football, basketball and baseball.  Soccer has even developed somewhat of a following since the introduction of the MLS, but hockey remains the unwanted stepchild of American professional sports.  Most of us simply do not watch it.  There are a lot of reasons for this.  Most of us didn't grow up playing hockey.  If you live in the south or the west, ice sheets aren't as prevalent as grassy fields.  Hockey requires specialized equipment, and many of us can't relate to a sport originally meant to be played on a frozen lake. All of these barriers make Americans less likely to not only play, but go see a hockey game.  Here’s your chance to see the great game of hockey and for a good cause!

Friday, December 16 the Utah Grizzlies play the Colorado Eagles. The Grizzlies, a semi-professional sports team in Salt Lake City, need your support and so does Playworks. December 16th at the Maverik Center is Playworks night. If you buy tickets through our website, the proceeds will go to support physical activity in Salt Lake public schools. Tickets are only $15 (normally $17), and the money goes to a great cause, Playworks.  

If you can't go, but still want to support Playworks, consider donating or volunteering.  We're always looking for enthusiastic people to come out to schools and help us energize recess.

And in the meantime, Go Griz!!!!

 

Salt Lake: A Strange (and cool) Place to Live

Since moving to Utah, I've noticed some strange things about life for kids here.  I'm from a small town in Southern Illinois and so some of the differences have to do with growing up in a city.  For instance, there are groups of skateboarders who hang out in the city parks.  In Edwardsville, where I grew up, there were about three kids who owned skateboards and there was only one park, so there wasn't a lot of skateboarding.  

A lot of other cities have good skateboard scenes, but other behaviors I've noticed seem to be unique to Utah or Salt Lake City.  The most noticeable of these isn't something that affects grade schools much, but I have noticed that older kids, in middle and high school have a creative way of asking each other out on dates.  

My sister went to school in Utah from 7th grade on. She was once asked out with a picture puzzle.  She had to assemble the pieces to see who it was that wanted to go to a school dance with her.  She replied with undeveloped film.  The boy in question had to process it before he knew she'd said yes.  

I've heard of cars being stuffed with balloons, one of which contains a note asking someone on a date.  I've heard of cakes being baked “Napoleon Dynamite” style, and once of someone concealing a request in a block of cheese.  The more creative the ask, the better seems to be the rule.

The same seems to be true for younger kids in the Salt Lake Valley when it comes to recess activities.  One popular game on the playground at Stansbury Elementary is creating an obstacle course to navigate out of cones, hurdles and other materials.  Kids spend hours creating the challenges and then running through them.  There doesn't appear to be any score-keeping.  They're doing for the sheer joy of building.  

Meadowlark Elementary began playing 9-square (a variation of 4-square) last week. Heartland Elementary in the Jordan School District was recently included in a Salt Lake Tribune article with pictures of a unique game called footy tether ball in which students play without the use of their hands.  

I've decided to honor this ingenious spirit with a call to Salt Lakers.  I'm asking, today for two lists.  

One:  What's the quirkiest thing you've noticed about living in Salt Lake

and

Two:  What's the most creative or unique playground game you've heard of or played.  

Please leave responses in the comments section of this post.

The Speed of Ideas

Considering that the schools in the Salt Lake Valley have only had Playworks programs since August, I find it absolutely amazing that students at each of our schools have begun to start up games and activities our coaches have taught them. They play spontaneously, on their own, in situations where there is no adult telling them what to do.  Several of our coaches have related stories about this incredible phenomenon.  Coach Raven at Stansbury relates this story:

I was walking into the gym to gather my equipment for recess, when I noticed a class was playing elbow tag during their PE time. I asked the teacher if she started the game, and she told me the students started it. They enjoyed the game so much during Class Game Time that they asked the PE teacher if they could play it. They taught her the game and started it themselves.

[Note: ClassGame Time is a weekly or biweekly time between recesses in which entire classes and their teachers join Playworks coaches. Kids learn basic sports, playground and cooperative games and the physical skills building through play.]

And here's another story from Coach Jaime at Meadowlark:

During indoor recess time yesterday, I walked by a class doing their indoor PE time playing Over Under Kickball! They had just learned it from Class Game Time and were using it on their own time. Great to see.

The thing that's so remarkable about these stories is not that the kids have memorized some fairly complicated games, but rather that their instincts to play, to try out new games, and to incorporate new behaviors are so wholly intact.

Play is how human beings learn skills, social norms, and interpersonal skills.  It is a deeply ingrained function of being a child, and perhaps of being human.  It is our nature to play; Part of our culture is carried in the games we pass from adult to child and in the roles played out as children teach each other games.  So what kind of culture is being passed on by having a focus on play in schools?  Coach Vee at Lincoln Elementary relates this story:

Since day one teachers have not just showed up to Class Game Time but also come fired up and ready to play. It has been such a joy to see the teachers and students having such a good time together. During our Class Game Time time everyone is engaged in play and the group morale is very high.

I would argue that an emphasis on play transmits a culture of mutual respect between students from different backgrounds and between students and teachers.  Cooperative learning through play emphasizes the fact that teachers and students necessarily work together to accomplish learning goals.  Students too often see their teachers as antagonists in a struggle that pits them against the other. Teachers work hard to transmit knowledge to resistant students, but when students and teachers play together, that illusion breaks down. Teachers and students are able to forge a bond because they understand that they are working towards the same end.

It's the power of play and it's a beautiful thing to see.

Roshambo, also called Rock-Paper-Scissors

“In my after-school program I had two boys that were arguing over who was going to go first. I was currently trying to get the rest of the game organized and before I could turn around to resolve the conflict one of my third grade girls rolled her eyes and said "Just Roshambo for it, duh!" They did and the game started smoothly. At that moment I realized just how awesome Roshambo can be.” -Jessi Bath, Hillsdale Elementary Program Coordinator

Rock crushes scissors, scissors cuts paper, paper covers rock... so elegant, so simple, so beautiful. Why does Roshambo work?

There are several excellent answers to this question. Number one, Rock-paper-scissors is really cool. I remember learning about it around second grade, and for weeks afterwards that was all we did. We played Rock-paper-scissors on the bus, on the playground, during lunch, and in class. We played it so much that our teachers told us to stop playing it, which only increased its vogue. To a second grader, and even to older kids, there's nothing cooler than a game that can be played anywhere with no props whatsoever. Rock-paper-scissors was popular for a very long time... until we learned about thumb wars.

Reason number two Roshambo works is that it doesn't make any sense at all. Clearly, these inanimate objects would never fight in real life and if they did, paper would be at a distinct disadvantage if only because of its molecular structure. Paper just can't stand up to steel or rock. As for the scissors-rock match-up, it's a toss-up if you're talking about which is stronger. A rock, however, could certainly ruin the scissors and make them unusable for cutting. I give the overall advantage to rock, but the game of Roshambo doesn't see it that way. Instead, it recognizes the underlying ubiquity of the universe. We're all just atoms and victory doesn't necessarily depend on strength. Sometimes paper wins.

This brings me to my last point. Rock-paper-scissors in intrinsically fair. No one element always wins, and since there are only three things to choose from, the ability to develop strategic prowess is limited. Novices have as much chance of randomly picking the winning element as experts. It solves inequalities in skill, physicality, intelligence, and social standing. There are no advantages for any single player save luck, and that is truly what makes it such an elegant solution to deciding classroom disagreements. Not to mention that often arguments like who should go first can be forgotten in the fun of Roshambo!

Boys and Girls

In a favorite Salt Lake City shop, I recently found two books. The Boys Book, and The Girls Book. Both of these books carried the subtitle, How to Be the Best at Everything. The Boys Book is divided into chapters with titles like “How to Rip a Phone Book in Half” or “How to Do an Ollie.” The Girls Book has a decidedly different focus. Chapters include “How to Explain Why You Are Late for School” and “How to Make Your Own Luxury Bubble Bath.” My question for readers this week is this: Is it okay to treat boys and girls differently?


As an experienced educator, I realize that there are differences in the way boys and girls behave, how they relate to each other, and how they are affected by developmental changes. If one were to generalize about how boys and girls act, one might say that boys tend to be more aggressive, more competitive, and more prone to act out. Girls might be said to be more diplomatic, involved in complex social interactions, more eager to be friends with the teacher.


Whether or not we choose to accept these assumptions now, they were overwhelmingly present while I was growing up, and I sense that they are still accepted by a large segment of the population here in Salt Lake City and in many other places in the United States. I've seen many children live into stereotypes about gender--eight-year-old boys concerned with nothing more than monster trucks and wrestling and young girls who wear high heels to elementary school and are eager to let me know that more people would like me if I combed my hair-- But where do these assumptions come from? Are they valid observations about how children of different genders tend to act, or are we, in fact, observing the outcomes of pervasive social norms that are pressed on our children by the media, the society we live in, our families, and ourselves?


I think there is strong evidence that though boys and girls do develop differently on a fundamental level, they are also being pressed into rigid social patterns that tend to dictate how boys and girls are allowed to act... with far reaching and detrimental consequences.


I recently read a story about a 15-year-old boy being sent home from school for wearing a dress. School officials claimed it was distracting. No doubt it was. My own experience with wearing non-traditional clothing is that it usually garners some unwanted attention. In Kiribati, where my wife and I were stationed in the Peace Corps, men wore bees (pronounced bays) which were long strips of cloth wrapped around the waist. When I wear the traditional garment here, in the U.S., I am usually accused of wearing a skirt.


I don't think people mean to be biased. Probably they are simply taken aback by unusual behavior and can't help but comment. I'm sure it was the same reaction fellow students had when they saw their male classmate in a dress in the example above. Although it's natural to remark on unusual behavior, it seems, to me, that such a disruptive reaction may be an alarming example of just how closed off our society is. Boys simply do not wear girl's clothing... and they do not behave like girls. How often have we heard the insult “You throw like a girl!” or conversely “You smell like a boy!” Our children's behaviors are influenced by this sort of language without any conscious effort on our part as teachers or parents. And there are other, less harmless attitudes and behaviors that come out of this kind of thinking. A video commemorating the 17th anniversary of the violence against women act noted that in a 2009 study, 25% of sixth graders, boys and girls, thought it was “acceptable for boys to hit girls.” No one formally teaches an attitude like that, but it's one of the messages our children seem to be picking up.


Next question: Is there any way to break the pattern?


I think that children are not innately prejudiced, and it's up to us, as parents and educators, to make sure they stay that way. Here's one small example of a school that's doing it right. Playworks Coach Raven at Stansbury Elementary School relates this story.


When I first started working at my school, I noticed everyone enjoyed jumping rope--boys and girls. I had one 6th grade boy who really wanted to jump but did not know how. I spent time showing him how to do it and kept checking in on him when I made my recess rounds. By the end of recess he had it down. He came up after the bell rang and gave me a hive-five and a "Thanks Coach!" The next day at recess, I saw him teaching other students how to jump using the same pointers I gave him.


When I was in school, I would've been called some pretty bad names for jumping rope with the girls. No one, it seems, told this young man that “jump rope is for girls”, however, and for that, I say well done to Coach Raven and to Stansbury. It's small acts like this one, that have the power to turn things around. Keep up the good work.