re: #165 Geoff with a G

OT: Regarding my question yesterday about explaining MLK to my 4yo.

On the ride home last night I asked her what she learned at school today. She thought for a while and said “We learned about Mr. King”. I asked her what she knew about “Mr. King” and she said: “That he had a dream. And that he wanted black and brown boys and girls to be allowed to play in the sand with white boys and girls.” So I asked her if his dream came true and she said: “Yep I can play with anyone I want, no matter what color they are.”

We talked for a bit more about it but I was proud pappa.

This morning she sat down and watched the whole speech on Youtube.

That’s a really cool story, and one with which I suspect many parents will relate. I have certainly had similar conversations with my kids (the same-sex marriage ones are the most fun!).

It also puts into perspective the whole “indoctrination” thing that people get so worked up about. Kids get indoctrinated all the time - you can’t really stop that. The key question is what the indoctrination is about: is it “the world outside is scary and we need to kill all our enemies” or “actually everyone is potentially a good friend, even if they look a bit different to you”?