Life Changing

Kabao is one of three (yes, 3!) students in our class
who is pregnant  and this is her firstborn son.
He is 2 months old here. It's pretty obvious
why she liked to watch him sleep, isn't it?
(And we actually started with 4 pregnant students,
but Christine had her second son the first week of class!)

I honestly believe that a baby can change a person’s life, whether it is a parent, grandparent, or even an outsider. Seeing the changes in a baby every month or even day-by-day is life changing.

I believe that bringing a child in to the classroom to teach children about empathy is very important and powerful. It is amazing what a baby can do to people. As a mother, my son changed my life in more ways that I could imagine. When I found out I was pregnant with him, life became all about the safety of the life inside me. Once he arrived, everything that used to matter didn’t matter anymore. Having brand name clothes didn’t matter anymore because all that mattered was making sure that my child had the safest equipment.

Everything revolves around this child now, when before no one else really mattered but me. Even when all he did was sleep most of the day, I seemed fascinated with his sleep. Staring at him sleeping gives me happiness, and when I am happy it affects his mood for the day.

Whenever I see articles about children, I am on it. This child of mine made me vulnerable to things and people that I never really cared for before. Stories that dealt with child abuse or neglect made me sick to my stomach, and some made me angry. There were stories that made me empathic with the child and those involved.

Seeing this child grow in front of my eyes has given me a super strength that I did not have before. For instance, I know have courage to look at a needle go through his skin for every shot, I’ve researched all sorts of flu that can be harmful to him, and am even able to hear him cry from the other room.

After reading the chapter, I think the children in this program felt the same way I did as I struggled through being a first time mom. To me, experiencing something this powerful is magical and can only be felt in Disney movies – but now it is real.

One thing that I feel is very strong about Gordon’s program is how she chooses her Roots of Empathy babies. I love the idea of choosing babies from the community. I strongly feel that children do need to see themselves portrayed in their classrooms, and choosing a baby from the same community is another version of that. It gives the children things they can relate to, yet every family is different, so they get to see and talk about the differences, too. If Gordon were to choose “superbabies” for a lower socioeconomic status community, the children would probably struggle in trying to relate to the child and parent. They would wish to come from a family with so much fortune like the “superbabies” instead of learning to be empathic with the baby and parent.

I wonder if the program is a real success, because if it is, why are we not adopting this program in our school systems? I wish to see children show more empathy and courage rather than bullying. I would love to see children stand up for one another in a cafeteria lunch line when being bullied or include everyone in a game of tag. This would be a beautiful sight for adults to see and there would be less bullying in school settings. If the program teaches children how to be empathic then why not put all children into the program so everyone has a chance to learn about empathy? Reading this chapter and relating it to my personal experiences has made me want to see this program come to our local schools and start a change for our children.