Striving for Inclusion

This is Caleigh, the author of this entry, with
her cousin, Riley. Caleigh said that Riley is
"the perfect example of a child who strives
for inclusion. She always wants to be a part
of what you're doing, no matter what it is,
and she gets sad when she is excluded. She
was also diagnosed with Type I diabetes at
the age of 2, and will have to deal with the fact
that she sometimes has to do things a little
differently. Her kindergarten teacher does a
great job of making her not feel different
because she has to go to the nurse's office
every day to get her blood sugar checked."

             Inclusion is something that I feel all people strive for, especially children. No child wants to be the odd one out and not have someone to play with at recess. This chapter on social inclusion hit close to home because of course, even I strive for that feeling. Throughout this chapter, Mary Gordon makes a few statements that I feel are very insightful, and the way that the children in the Roots of Empathy classes respond to discussions they have in class about inclusion came as a surprise to me.

            One of the main points that Gordon made was that we need to be empathetic to situations we may not even know about. There is always more going on in a family than teachers and friends know, and it is our job to make sure we do what we can not to add to that. Gordon states, “build empathy based on understanding of their particular circumstances and on respect for the struggles that many parents face” (p. 147). I like this because all parents face different struggles in life and dealing with those is hard enough.

            The topic of exclusion was very prominent in this chapter. I am sure that every person can relate to this somehow. When I was reading about how kids do bad in school because of their social interactions, it really opened my eyes and made me think about my jobs. I work at a daycare at a gym where random kids come in at random times. I have had multiple occasions where children would come up to me with their lip sticking out because nobody would play with them. You can tell that it just breaks their hearts that they are not being included. It also made me think about more I could do for these kids. Usually I do my best to find someone for the child to play with, but sometimes it is hard to force children to do things they don’t want to. So, if it came to it, I would just offer to play with the child myself.

            Another topic that hit close to home was the part about how so many children don’t know what it’s like to have a father in the picture. This I could relate to because my parents got divorced when I was 6, and for a long while, my dad was barely in the picture. I would see him maybe once a week, if that. I remember feeling sad when my dad would break his promises. I think that it is good that the children in these classes are getting to experience what having a dad around can be like, so they can take these experiences and apply them to their own lives as they get older and have kids of their own.

            Towards the end of the chapter, one of the lessons with the children was that they were shown a picture of a sad girl and they had to respond to it. I feel that each of the responses showed some reflection of what these children feljt themselves. The responses were sweet and very mature. You can tell that the lessons they are learning are really getting through to them and making them more empathetic children.

            The fear of being excluded is in everyone. Each person may have a different fear, but it’s natural to want to feel included. Mary Gordon is doing something truly amazing when working with these kids, and I feel that the lessons that she is teaching them should be taught universally. She is creating an environment where children feel safe to be themselves, and don’t have to worry about being left out, so they can focus more on their schooling. Children spend a lot of time at school and with their peers and during that time they are developing characteristics that they will have the rest of their life. Teaching children about empathy and inclusion are important and make the children better people.