A Lesson in Respecting Life

not  my photograph…

Classroom interactions, translated…

That afternoon, we’d had a guest speaker, a life education instructor, to come to my class to speak to the kids.

This teacher brought along a bucket, he’d asked the kids to take a look at the reptiles inside.  The kids asked, “What kind of snake is it?”, “Is it poisonous?”, “Does it bite?”, “Is it a boy or girl?”, the instructor answered all of my students’ inquiries with patience, “It’s a rat snake”, “It’s not poisonous”, “if you don’t offend it, then, it wouldn’t bite you”, “it’s a boy”.

With a net, the instructor asked the children to smell the snake, then, he’d carefully, asked the snake to come out, this rat snake was about two meters long.  Some of the children volunteered to be trees, so Mr. Snake can wrap itself around their necks, then, the other children became branches, so the snake could move about.  All of these kids were only in the first grade, they’d shown NO signs of fear, just curiosities.  I’d taken photographs for the kids with the snake, during which time, the guest instructor told the kids to not stand directly in front of the rat snake, so it’ll become defensive.

At the end of the class, the instructor asked the kids, “What, is the purpose of today’s lesson?”, everybody raised her/his hands, “Respecting life!”, the instructor told the kids, with this serious tone, that whether it be snakes, insects, or other kinds of animals, they all shared the earth with us, humans, and so, we must respect ALL forms of life; at the same time, he’d told the kids, when they’re out in the wild, and bumped into a snake, and, when they couldn’t know if it’s poisonous or not, just stay at a distance and just observe it, not interrupting it in its natural habitat is the best way to get along with wild animals.

Summer is the season when snakes are running out and about, I believe, that after this experience, the children would have a deeper level of understanding for snakes, or any other creatures.

And so, this, is the lesson that happened, using life, and real world experiences, the instructors were able to instill that sense of responsibilities inside the children’s minds, and I’m sure, that after this experience, the children in the class would become even MORE respectful toward the wild creatures.  A great lesson, to learn in the earlier years of school.