Rain and Choices
It was a warm September day, and my students and I were outside enjoying our morning break. As usual, students were standing around eating a snack or playing on the playground. With very little warning, a sudden downpour made us dash for the porch. Students who were on the playground had farther to go to reach shelter, and they had already gotten a good drenching by the time they reached the porch. And in the blink of an eye, it seemed that no one any longer had a thought about shelter from the rain. Why not just stay out in the rain? Even the students who had easily made it to the porch before getting very wet went running out into the rain, splashing in the puddles that were quickly forming. It was pure childish instinct, without a thought of any possible repercussions.
“And where was their teacher?” you might ask. I was standing on the porch, enjoying my students’ innocent delight in the rain, half wanting to join them. The rain was a welcome relief from the day's heat. But because I am an adult, something in me said that I should tell the students to get out of the rain. Yet I also knew that being out in the rain would not hurt them, and that having them come in soaked actually wouldn’t cause much of a problem. Mostly it would just cause them some discomfort and give our room a musty smell. Also, I smiled as I mentally prepared the little speech I would give them, as I have given to so many other youngsters in similar circumstances. Why would I pass up the chance for a golden Life Lessons moment?
The bell rang, and my soaked students trooped happily back into the classroom. Yes, we lost a few minutes of class time in the business of getting paper towels and making sure that no drips would fall on our books. And when everyone was settled in their desks, I dove into my little speech: “That was fun, wasn’t it? But you got really wet. I didn’t tell you to come in from the rain, because I think you are old enough to start thinking through choices like that yourself. You decided to play in the rain, but here at school you don’t have dry clothes to change into. So now you’ll just need to wait to dry off. And I don’t want to hear any complaining about being wet. You made a choice, and now you have to live with it. You see, as you grow older, you have more choices to make, and you have to think about the consequences of those choices. Thinking ahead is important, so that you can decide whether you want to deal with the possible consequences of the choices you make.”
It must have been the day for sudden downpours, because rain caught us again during our afternoon recess, even though the sun had been shining when we first went out. We ran for cover. Though I had one or two students who said, “Let’s keep playing in the rain,” most of the others did not share the inclination. One child declared, “I don’t want to get all wet again!” I believe someone had learned something by experience.
I share this story because I know how easy it is for us as teachers (and adults in general) to have systems of restraint in which we constantly dictate children’s actions. And it can be a fine line to walk, because we are the guardians of children’s well-being and we want them to be safe and comfortable. We need to keep them from engaging in risky behavior that is likely to cause serious harm to themselves or others. Yet as children grow older, we need to guide them in developing internal restraints. How will they develop these restraints if we do not give them real-world opportunities to experience the natural consequences of their choices?
My students might decide to play in the rain again next time. Then too, they might not. If they do, I hope it will be because they thought ahead, calculated the future discomfort, and decided it was worth it.
