It's been a while since I last submitted something to Deviantart. I'm back again with a new entry and I should post a new poem in a few days. Here's something I wrote for my blog, I hope you like it.

The other day I had to teach contemporary dance to a group of young kids. I've had to do this for a few weeks now and it's changed how I think of children. I recall one of the other girls at ballet mentioning how they are often bored and misbehave in her classes. When they don't like something, they comment on it. Normally they comment on anything, whether they like it or not. The girl is frustrated and irritated by this because how can she teach them if they constantly change between being excited to uninterested?

At first I was annoyed by their inconsistency of energy. I found it rude and frustrating that they would yawn or look around the room when I was telling them something. How they would tell me if they found something boring. I wished that they were older so that they would just have the decency to do what they were told.

This last point made something click for me. There is an assumption that as we get older, we're supposed to just push through boredom and make it interesting. After all, there's always going to be boredom so we have to get used to the experience. We get into the habit of displaying false emotions and suppressing true emotions. When I'm tired I have to look attentive in class otherwise I'd be considered rude. Why do I have to suppress what I feel? I feel genuinely tired but I have to appear not so? For the sake of manners, we sanitize our feelings and thoughts. For an unwritten code that "responsible people" should abide by, we become dishonest.

The children I teach haven't learned these codes. They're honest and express what they feel. And why not? They have a right to because they're their own person - or are they? They learn codes to make it easier on the teacher - to be respectful. This is a valid point because a teacher does spend time and effort, which would feel wasted if the children don't appreciate it (this says more about the teacher if they are always craving gratification for their work). Maybe there is truth to what the children are expressing? Perhaps they aren't trying to be annoying and are genuinely bored. Doesn't that mean that the teacher should be attentive to their complaints and try to fix them? So who's fault is it?

No-one is to blame because no-one can be perfect. Instead, it requires a balance of children co-operating, as well as the teacher being open to complaints. Far too often I see teachers expressing a draconian like rule over children - to re-educate what they should and shouldn't do. The children are then programmed to feel things which aren't genuine. Then that childlike innocence - or at least the impression of it - dissipates and they join the ranks of the "responsible" and "well behaved". Of people who express one thing yet think another. Is this the end to what people should evolve to?