Paying It Forward

There's a movie starring Helen Hunt, Kevin Spacey, and Haley Joel Osment (of "Sixth Sense" fame) entitled "Pay It Forward" in which a teacher challenges his students to do something nice (pay forward, not pay back) for three people who then will each feel the urge to do nice things for three people, and so on. My difficult class watched the film because its message is related to a book they were reading. I wasn't sure if this immature, self-absorbed, lazy bunch of teenagers would really get the message when I chose to show it to them, but I have to admit they surprised me. I'd prepared for the day following the movie by buying stems of mini carnations enough that they each had one to give intact or to separate the flowers to give more, printing small thank-you cards on my home printer, and bringing crayons, markers, and decorative edge scissors so they could embellish the cards. They were to think of some adult (which I defined for them as teacher, administrator, aide, custodian, kitchen worker, etc. and not a student) who deserved thanks or recognition, write to them in the card explaining what they'd done to earn this recognition, and then they were to deliver it to that person.

Of course there were glitches in the plan. Some of the kids are so clumsy with scissors that they cut poorly and thought that gave them the right to throw away their card and take another one; however, since I'd made extras, it wasn't a horrendous deal. Two overweight boys who hang around together because they suffer the same kind of discrimination plucked flowers off the stems to give to each other to wear behind their ears, clearly demonstrating a refusal to follow directions; since they'd also given a blossom off the stem to an adult, they felt that was enough to cover their butts. Three of the kids wandered off and circled the building a few times before being found and asked to return. Two teachers apparently vanish during 4th period because we couldn't find them to deliver the flowers, so they received theirs later. Two students were absent from class so they'll be paying it forward today instead which will cause a little uproar. So what else is new with that class, I ask.

But the heartening thing is that there was no hesitation whatsoever in wanting to participate in this project. Every one of the students in the class immediately had an adult in mind, and several had more than one right away, whom they thought were most deserving of thanks. They asked about correct spelling and somehow altered the plain cards that I'd provided to personalize them. And they were so proud and pleased when they were able to (eventually) deliver them and see the response of the recipient. When they revealed to me (and the class) who received their flowers, some students were asked why that person deserved thanks, and each giver could easily articulate sound reasons why they were deserving. Perhaps the kids in the class now have a little more expanded view of those recipients, and that's a fine thing in an environment where some of the kids say and feel that lots of people (mostly adults) are "against them."

Some of the kids said, "We should do this more often," and a few of them extended that idea to, "yeah, bring in more flowers/chocolates/gifts tomorrow" as though those items cost nothing (because to them there had been no financial cost for the flowers and cards), but instead I've challenged them for seven days to pay it forward at least once a day, in or out of school, and to write about it in their journals. My guess is that about a third of them will do it each of the seven days, a third will do it for four or five days, and the rest maybe once or twice. Even if I'm right about these students, I'll feel the project a success anyway because I've made them think about other people, recognize those people's efforts on their behalf, and see how much their small kindness in return means to them.