Teacher here. I would say that the idea of innocence comes from kids being a blank slate. Kids aren’t typically inherently mean but are heavily affected by their surroundings and who they learn from. It’s not always the same for every kid but bad environment is going to produce a kid that is angry and mean that will lash out at others.
I wouldn’t agree with the idea that schools are cesspools and every kid is awful to each other. Every school is so different and I would say that at my school only 5% of kids are actually mean with malicious intent. Some don’t know better and will learn as they grow and most are genuinely good little people.
This. Kids are often a reflection of their surroundings.
Case in point: a teenager, call him Carl, that I’ve taken under my wing a bit in our Organization expressed worries to me a while ago about one of his classmates, call him Mark, joining, because Mark would apparently bully him. I promised to keep an eye on it. I got to know Mark a bit better, and he seemed to give off this downed vibe, but despite keeping an eye open, he never seemed to be nasty to Carl. About a month ago, I was at an event where Mark and his mother were there. His mother berated him, calling him stupid over and over, and even made him confirm that she was right. This answered so, so many questions. Poor kid. I’ve also taken him under my wing a bit in the meantime, at least as far as I can. I think things have improved between the two.
Teacher here. I would say that the idea of innocence comes from kids being a blank slate. Kids aren’t typically inherently mean but are heavily affected by their surroundings and who they learn from. It’s not always the same for every kid but bad environment is going to produce a kid that is angry and mean that will lash out at others.
I wouldn’t agree with the idea that schools are cesspools and every kid is awful to each other. Every school is so different and I would say that at my school only 5% of kids are actually mean with malicious intent. Some don’t know better and will learn as they grow and most are genuinely good little people.
This. Kids are often a reflection of their surroundings.
Case in point: a teenager, call him Carl, that I’ve taken under my wing a bit in our Organization expressed worries to me a while ago about one of his classmates, call him Mark, joining, because Mark would apparently bully him. I promised to keep an eye on it. I got to know Mark a bit better, and he seemed to give off this downed vibe, but despite keeping an eye open, he never seemed to be nasty to Carl. About a month ago, I was at an event where Mark and his mother were there. His mother berated him, calling him stupid over and over, and even made him confirm that she was right. This answered so, so many questions. Poor kid. I’ve also taken him under my wing a bit in the meantime, at least as far as I can. I think things have improved between the two.