Honesty is the Best Policy

Truth is a difficult concept. I believe in an Ultimate, universal Truth, but that's the not truth I'm talking about. I'm talking about truth with a lowercase 't', which frankly, is harder to find than the Ultimate, universal Truth because that doesn't change. Lowercase truth, however, is a paaaaaaaaaaaaaaaain.

Some of my students lately have asked me to tell them stories during their after school time, waiting for their parents to pick them up. They wanted to be characters in the story so in the stories I had them go on adventures with unicorns who steal rows of teeth, and changeling kittens.

Today was no different- they wanted to hear my stories again, except this time they would tell me the stories. This time I was the bad guy (although they couldn't think of a crime for me to commit) and they were the cops who were chasing me. Then I became a zombie. Then a human. Then a zombie again, but this time could be commanded to do stuff. So, they told me to run. I didn't think they actually wanted me to run because, you know, they were telling me a story, but then a student said, "You need to run because you're fat!" I expressed mock disbelief, and returned with, "That was not nice, mister," and proceeded to stay seated and listen to the rest of their story.

I am overweight. According to my BMI, I am obese...although I haven't checked my BMI in a while, so that could have altered, but still, I am not exactly slim, that's perfectly true.

And you know how difficult it is to tell children to be honest, to tell the truth, and yet counter them with, "Don't be rude!" Maybe instead of saying "Honesty is the best policy," or "Don't tell lies," adults should say, "Be encouraging with what you say. Don't not say the truth, but is it appropriate to say the truth just now? Did you really need to call your teacher fat just then?" I mean, why do adults tell kids such cheap lines like "Honesty is the best policy", and then get all surprised when they say embarrassing things to friends or strangers? You just told the kid it's the best policy, and you probably also told him he only deserves the best, and is the best, so why wouldn't he want to use the best policy? Why do adults talk to kids like kids?

Heck, why do we talk like that to each other? To our peers?

Now, okay, wait, back-up: I don't want to expose children/students prematurely (I already wrote a blog post about this here >> Expose vs. Educate), but why should I be the one to start them off confused? They're already going to be confused the rest of their lives- I want to give them the tools they'll need to search for and gain clarity instead of telling them the easy way out of things. Maybe they'll have a better chance at empathy and stop exclaiming, "That's weird!" (in a negative way) at everything (frankly, they're probably just as weird as what they're calling weird).




It's true people experience pain. It's true that there are those without homes and food. It's true that people are mean. It's true that I can't afford to pay off my bills. It's true that things aren't for forever. It's true that I'm lazy and frustrated and conceited and fat and distracted.

I'm sure there are a lot more truths about me that I could dig up and be ashamed of, but then the greatest truth of all: that I am loved--overpowers them all.

Trust me, you're loved, too.