My daughter was the source of an interesting conversation after our post-Thanksgiving movie, August Rush. Now this is a true Hollywood movie - happy ending, suspended reality and all - about a boy in an orphanage, Evan, who believes the music in his soul (and in his head) will lead him to his parents. Of course, it does. Along the way, the boy is taken in by an edgy, weird, manipulative, exploitive character named Wizard, played by Robin Williams. Wizard, has clearly suffered his own losses and abandonment and has now become savior/ father figure/ business manager/ exploiter for a whole cadre of lost kids.
Here is what sparked our conversation: Wizard was both the best and the worst thing that could have happened to Evan. He opened the world of music to Evan, taught him all he knew, gave him both hope and shelter, and let him see what was possible. He also instilled fear, ripped him off, controlled him, and tried to rob him of his ultimate success. So is Wizard a good guy or a bad guy? Is he someone to be celebrated or demonized? Is he a source of strengths or trauma?
The answer, of course, is yes. Both. All of the above. This is the reality of our lives - and certainly the lives of many challenged and challenging kids in our lives! And those kids are waiting for the adults in their lives to “get” this reality, so they can embrace and benefit from the strengths they have gained from these paradoxical adults. Will you help them name it?
A recent news article in Newspapers and Technology titled ”Newspaper future bright if strengths stressed” made this startling observation: “The future of newspapers seems quite bright if the industry takes advantage of the medium’s strengths, among them credibility, tradition, brand name, content provider expertise and distribution logistics...”
I hope you are saying “Duh-uh!” Yet how often do we ignore the strengths of students in our schools in favor of an attitude that essentially says, “Out in the real world, no one will care about your strengths. They’ll expect you to do what needs to be done - their way!”
OK, so that is just plain wrong. It appears that out in the “real world,” being able to see, name and build on strengths is exactly what helps businesses, even whole industries, adapt to a rapidly changing world. It appears that workers who know and grow their unique strengths are at a distinct advantage, both in terms of their marketability and in terms of their ability to find a meaningful (and often lucrative) niche.
So perhaps seeing, naming and growing strengths becomes a central tenant in preparing young people for success in the 21st century.
What do you think?
want to tip my (cowboy) hat to my new friends in Alberta Canada today. As keynote speaker for the Youth Justice Committee Conference this week in Calgary this weekend (yep, they are big on their cowboy history), I had the opportunity to learn about a remarkable province-wide system of these “youth justice committees,” volunteers who meet with first offenders to offer an opportunity to make things whole, engage the youth as part of the community and deliver a clear message: We care and are willing to stand by you and give you another chance. (Nearly 400 of these volunteers traveled long distances to attend this conference - on the weekend, on their own time - to learn how to do this better.)
Now there are programs like this in communities all over. What is different here is that:
-It is part of the juvenile justice system;
-It exists in even the most remote communities;
-The government foots the bill.
It seems like an awful lot of the wisdom I have gained in my life has come from kids who have faced much adversity. I might have been “almost there” with my understanding, but they have crystallized the insight with something they have said or done. Am I alone or have you experienced this too?
So why don’t we give them more credit for it. Are we thinking this is just a happy accident or coincidence, or might it be that they are wise beyond their years and have actually gained something incredibly valuable from their struggles? And that we are the beneficiary?
I vote that we give them credit. Whenever we gain an insight from working with a kid, I think we should give them credit, tell them, thank them, admire them. Funny how being appreciated for something we didn’t even know we did seems to suddenly make it have value and locks it into our consciousness as such. I wonder what the impact would be?
Hmmm…
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