Sometimes I Think the Kids Get It More Than We Do

The other day in class we read "The Sneetches," a poem by Dr. Seuss.  It deals with how we treat people who are different than we are.  The class was given a short essay to write describing what they felt was the theme of this poem.  One of my students wrote:

The Sneetches

What does the poem, The Sneetches, mean? I think that it means that it doesn't matter what race, religion, country, and even gender you are. All that matters is that we are all humans and should not go against each other. Sure we may disagree at certain times, but it doesn't mean that you have to beat up or even kill that person just because of what they think. Everyone is entitled to their own opinion. You also shouldn't think that your race or skin color is the best because that will corrupt you and make you look down at other people and think of them as less than human like what Adolf Hitler did to the Jews. He hated them so much that he would not even waste bullets on them and used gas on them instead to kill them. We should not fight against each other and should cherish each other. War is a foolish mistake that we as humans make. Again, I think that the theme of The Sneetches is that it doesn't matter what race, skin, religion, country, or gender you are and that we are all humans no matter what.

When they get it, like this student obviously did, it makes me feel like no matter how hard teaching is, THIS is why we teach.  These kids are our future, and if the future is left in the hands of students like mine, I look forward to it.