Fighting Fair

I’ve been doing some reading in the book, Coming of Age. It has been very interesting from both a teaching standpoint and the view of a parent-to-be in a couple of weeks. There is one section that struck a chord with me. It was basically about fighting fair at home and handling conflicts.

I had to teach health this year, a mandated curriculum paid for with a federal grant that was very scripted and difficult for me to teach. One thing included in this curriculum was a poster that had an outline for how to have a disagreement and settle on a solution with someone. All year in different situations we practiced this poster as a class (because the curriculum told me to). I had written the program off when I had to read, “One good reason for not drinking alcohol as an underage person is that it gives you bad breath.” SERIOUSLY? I put very little value in the remainder of the year but I dutifully taught it under the watchful eye of my curriculum coordinator.

After reading chapter 6 (especially the end), I realized that the health curriculum had not been a complete wash. The rules for fighting fair and the guidelines for resolving conflicts were spot on with what Coming of Age is saying we should be doing with our kids. Huh.

What I liked most about the rules was that they were developed by both the adolescents and the parents at a time when there was no disagreement. When you are in the heat of the moment, no one makes much sense, but if you have a formula you follow each time a disagreement arises, I can imagine it would go much smoother with practice.

I am filing this strategy away for when my son gets to be an adolescent and I am not longer considering the health program to be a complete waste of time. I will however, rework the section on underage drinking :)