I am not sure that I really like the word misconception. It is a heavy word filled with meaning and we are all guilty of carrying them. I have them, I am certainly no different then anyone else. Earlier in the day, when I was talking to the school secretary, she mentioned that she had an American pen friend when she was growing up. Her pen friend used to ask her things like "Do you have tea with the Queen?” We giggled about it at the time, but looked back it seems an odd coincidence with the events of the day.
Last night, at our Halloween party, I heard my first misconception. The other mums and I were all talking in a group. The conversation ranged from silly to serious. I was mentioning how in the UK, there is so much more information in their media about Africa, in particular because one of the mums mentioned that her son and husband were in Tanzania doing a charity walk. The conversation lead to her commenting that Americans don't pay attention to what is happening to the rest of the world, that we are "insular".
I could have responded rudely, and when I was talking to Super Handsome about it he asked me why I didn't. He was right, the comment was insulting. I never did have the inclination to respond rudely and after my conversation with my teenager, I am so glad that I did not.
I explained nicely to the woman that even the local news sources in my city provide information about what is going on the the world. I also pointed out to her that when another country is in crisis, our government always pledge money and or aid, and that does not even start to take into account how generous our citizens are when they open their own pockets or the time that our citizens devote to other countries.
This morning my teenage son and I were talking, because he felt he was having problems with some of the boys in his year. The incidents he mentioned were small, but I can understand why he was troubled. One boy has been bumping him when they are outside playing football and it had happened enough that my son was sure that it was on purpose and not necessarily a joke. Another boy commented that my son was in the "low" math group. (Which, incidentally is not true, actually he is going to be working a head since he has done their math already and he is advanced).
I talked to him about how his "honeymoon" period with all the curiosity was probably over. Now, he was probably going to be subjected to tests by his peers. I talked to him about misconceptions and I was able to use my experience last night to directly relate for him the positive (my way) and negative way (Super Handsome's suggestion) to deal with the situation. We talked about the implications if I had chosen to respond on a negative manner, as Super Handsome had suggested.
I know that when my teenager went to school he felt much better about the situations that we had talked about. I tried to give him communication tools to use when situations come up and we talked about how humor or honest education will take him a longer distance then rude comments, anger or shouting. I prepared him for the fact that some of their misconceptions are going to be insulting, but he can change them for the better, if he uses positive communication tools.
Last night, at our Halloween party, I heard my first misconception. The other mums and I were all talking in a group. The conversation ranged from silly to serious. I was mentioning how in the UK, there is so much more information in their media about Africa, in particular because one of the mums mentioned that her son and husband were in Tanzania doing a charity walk. The conversation lead to her commenting that Americans don't pay attention to what is happening to the rest of the world, that we are "insular".
I could have responded rudely, and when I was talking to Super Handsome about it he asked me why I didn't. He was right, the comment was insulting. I never did have the inclination to respond rudely and after my conversation with my teenager, I am so glad that I did not.
I explained nicely to the woman that even the local news sources in my city provide information about what is going on the the world. I also pointed out to her that when another country is in crisis, our government always pledge money and or aid, and that does not even start to take into account how generous our citizens are when they open their own pockets or the time that our citizens devote to other countries.
This morning my teenage son and I were talking, because he felt he was having problems with some of the boys in his year. The incidents he mentioned were small, but I can understand why he was troubled. One boy has been bumping him when they are outside playing football and it had happened enough that my son was sure that it was on purpose and not necessarily a joke. Another boy commented that my son was in the "low" math group. (Which, incidentally is not true, actually he is going to be working a head since he has done their math already and he is advanced).
I talked to him about how his "honeymoon" period with all the curiosity was probably over. Now, he was probably going to be subjected to tests by his peers. I talked to him about misconceptions and I was able to use my experience last night to directly relate for him the positive (my way) and negative way (Super Handsome's suggestion) to deal with the situation. We talked about the implications if I had chosen to respond on a negative manner, as Super Handsome had suggested.
I know that when my teenager went to school he felt much better about the situations that we had talked about. I tried to give him communication tools to use when situations come up and we talked about how humor or honest education will take him a longer distance then rude comments, anger or shouting. I prepared him for the fact that some of their misconceptions are going to be insulting, but he can change them for the better, if he uses positive communication tools.
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