there is hope

Today my fourth grade boys gave me hope. I was feeling a little down with the emphasis on the materialism (guess how many kids got an Ipod or cell phone for Christmas?) and the Redskins (who apparently reign supreme in our school). I was feeling like we had come back to school without the renewal of hope that Christmas is supposed to bring that is until I caught wind of a fourth grade boys discussion......

Here is my abbreviated version:
"Did you hear about Britney Spears?"
"Yes, she is messed up."
"You know about her sister, right?"
"Yup, she's pregnant and she is NOT married and she is only 16"
"I heard her boyfriend dumped her"

I giggled a bit but a few minutes later when I still heard them speaking about it, I jumped in. (The ever nosy teacher)

"So what do you think about it?" says Nosy Teacher

Boys Reply....
"They canceled Jami's show, because she is not a good example."
"They need to get some help for their family"
"She isn't even married and you think she would have learned to make better choices by watching her sister"
"I hope that they can learn to be okay as a family"

I walked away feeling proud of the fact that while the boys were dwelling on E! channel idle gossip that at least they were making connections to poor choices and rather than make truly hurtful judgments about the situation, such as calling rude names or the like, showing some sort of empathy (on a boy like fourth grade level). They also demonstrated to me that they understand that people make destructive choices and that those who do should not be rewarded with say...extensions on their tv contract for a show that is on Nickelodeon, which caters to the tween set. It was high level thinking as far as I'm concerned and it gave me hope.