That's so Foolish! - Out of the Mouth of Kids

That's so Foolish! - Out of the Mouth of Kids

Yesterday, as I was talking to my Uber driver finding his way to my location, I was also reading a poster, when I felt a tug on my dress. I looked down and this young kid (about 6 years of age) spoke to me:

Child: Are you calling them?

She was pointing to the poster and with no pause for breath, even as I began to shake my head and say no, continued.

Child: Because that is so foolish! They are just right inside. (Ponting to a building).

As she paused, looking at me with mild exasperation at my foolishness, I meekly submitted that I had been talking to my Uber driver.

She nodded her head wisely and proceeded to ask if I liked exercising (I had been looking at a Gym poster, outside a gymkhana at that, after all 😉). I shook my head and said I preferred sleeping and asked her what she liked to do.

We had a fascinating conversation jumping from topic to topic as she waited for her parents to pick her up and her friends had their own conversations around us with other parents milling about. As the 10 minutes passed in a jiffy, I also had a parallel track running in my head as the dusk light faded and the dim street lights slowly turned on.

Should I tell her to not talk to strangers so easily? Should I warn her to not separate so far from her friends? Should I question the other adults not seeming to notice that the little girl had wandered to me near enough to raise an alarm should it be needed, yet not really secure from nefarious intentions should I have them?

Yet was it fair to instill this fear in the child? I think she enjoyed our conversation as she questioned me on my likes and occupation and sermonised me about how I should deal with my students. I certainly did enjoy our conversation. Should I deprive myself and others like me the joys of having a child talk to them because the world can be a cruel place? Or should we as adults just be more vigilant and create more safe spaces? Even when it seems impossible to do so?

I have been pondering about this since then and I do not know the answer to this. Surely a child should feel safe to approach a stranger to share her delightful wisdom? But is it not better to be safe than sorry?

As my Uber driver and her parents arrived, I walked away exchanging pleasantries with the parents. I could hear them jokingly, lightly asking her why she was bent on walking away from friends and talking to a stranger and her vehemently defending her decision as a helpful one. She also argued that poor me had no one but a phone to talk to and I might have been foolishly talking into the phone to enquire about details than walk into the gymkhana. 😉

I am still thinking was I right to bite my tongue and not caution her? We often talk of children learning better through exploration, seeking information by themselves, helping others in an effort to understand the unknown. How then can we deny them spontaneous interactions with strangers that they architect themselves? And yet...

- Written on 9 Feb 2019.

- Posted on Facebook first. This is just for repository purposes :) 

- Self Explanatory.