School at School

We went to the Science Center today. Lil'Bug loves it- usually. Today there were one hundred first graders on a field trip. Couple things happened:

1) Chaos. Good chaos for the most part, but one group of these bigger kids did not respect the little kids and the areas for just and only babies and toddlers. They mowed over Lil'Bug over and over with or without me there (they mowed over me too). We moved on to a different space because we can. The next area had the other half of the field trip and they were being over disciplined for just being kids and touching things (in an interactive museum for kids, go figure). Some were humiliated to the point of crying. They were directed to play with Legos and then told what to build. ??? We moved on because we can.

Lil'Bug kept trying to play with them, to no avail. They would ignore her or make comments about not playing with babies. It was just so different from our experiences with the large, multi age, park day group we are used to. It was two different end of the school "socialization" spectrum that I find unacceptable: frantic chaos with no respect for others and the authoritarian hand preventing meaningful interaction. There is a middle ground.

2) While waiting for Polar Express in the Imax to begin seating we were witness to the other half of these beleaguered children's field trip. Three teachers stormed out of the IMAX: The Human Body. They were flushed, angry, and hysterical. "The movie was inappropriate for 7 year olds!" They hiss at the doorman and food concessions clerk, "We'll have to send notes home! The kids will be scarred! How can this be for children?! How embarrassing! I was embarrassed!"

Um, Lil'Bug and I saw the movie in November, twice. She's three. The movie is just fine. I racked my brain over what could have upset them so much? The shaving cut? The x-ray skeletons showing the motion of bones in crawling toddlers? Maybe the part about the pregnant aunt and the very non-graphic, yet, natural birth scene? LilBug's reaction was simply that the "mom" didn't chew her food very well. Since when are the normal functions of the human body embarrassing? It's not like they showed anyone naked (oh, maybe the newborn baby for a micro bit) and even if they had it was an IMAX documentary about the human body for goodness sake.

Ironic, while they raised fuss in the lobby, the 100+ kids were still watching the movie- in fact they finished it. Heh.

And I sat there observing this lobby show, not knowing what to say to Lil'Bug's loud questions about the situation. I tried to quietly explain, but Lil'Bug just got louder. Finally we got to find seats for our show. Which is also totally appropriate for children. :)

The school group BTW is from the local district that Lil'Bug would go to. Yike. It is experiences and such like this that remind me why I am blessed to live the life we do. Am I judging? Yup. Maybe I am simply choosing something different for us and using this judgment of the other as wrong for us, but I fail to see how what I saw today is good for the children involved either.