“Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand!"
Matthew 3:1
Dear Parents and Friends of St. Michael’s School,
The theme for the second week of Advent is PEACE: peace in our world, peace in our families, peace among friends. John the Baptist is featured in the Gospel this week, and his message is blunt and unfiltered. In addition to his rather eccentric appearance (wearing clothing of camel’s hair and eating locusts and wild honey), he chastised the Pharisees and Sadducees and called them “a brood of vipers!” That doesn’t sound too peaceful to me, yet people flocked to him by the thousands to hear his important message. Would John have the same impact/following in today’s world, specifically at St. Michael’s School? His approach certainly doesn’t follow our mantra of #kindnessmatters. Would our community be offended by his harsh language? Would our feelings be hurt?
We work to instill in our students the importance of being charitable and respectful of others, and we certainly remind them when the words they speak are unkind. I wonder, though, if this sheltering approach might be hurting them in the long run. Sometimes it is necessary to hear strong words. Sometimes our children need to learn about unpleasant (evil) situations so they will recognize evil when they see it – and know how to act. Of course it should be done in a way that does not provoke undue fear or anxiety, but by providing our students only with gentle conversations or happy experiences, we are not equipping them with the knowledge and tools they need to function in a world that is not always kind. John’s message is harsh, but the Pharisees and Sadducees needed to hear it. Perhaps our children are stronger than we think, and they, at certain times, need to hear the unfiltered truth too.
That brings me to my second takeaway from the readings this week – the theme of PEACE. We all seek peace in our world, in our families, and among our friends, but I suspect most of us think peace could be achieved so easily if only the other person acted the way we wanted him/her to. Well, we know it doesn’t usually work that way. It’s easy to reciprocate peace when peace is being generated – not so much when we are confronted with discord. So how do we achieve peace in those situations, and how do we help our children learn to be peacemakers when they experience conflict within their community, or among family and friends? Prayer, of course, should always be one of our responses, but action may be necessary as well. Just like students learn different strategies to be successful in reading and math, they also need to learn conflict resolution strategies. At school, they learn this in Social Emotional Learning (SEL) lessons at each grade level, but at home parents should take time to discuss with their children what to do when things get heated. Regardless of who is “at fault,” peace requires a concerted effort by everyone, and it’s not always easy. Act out a few scenarios that are pertinent to your environment when everyone is calm so that when tempers flare, you can remind them of the strategies you practiced.
Teachers and staff will also be working to ensure that we are prepared to harness peace quickly in the event of a dangerous situation on campus. We will receive training once again with the A.L.I.C.E protocols this Wednesday, and we will be planning age-appropriate practice responses in each classroom for January. It is not enough to pray for peace; we must also work at it.
