The day after the Las Vegas shooting a first grader came to school with a few pages, carefully printed in the best first grade script she could manage. On the first page she had written, “Guns are not toys. I do not play with toy guns.” And she had her picture attached to it. On the second page was written “Kids don’t let kids play with guns.” The third page was a request for a toy gun turn in at her school.
Children unfortunately understand violence, some first hand and some by hearing their parents speaking about it. Every child in the United States absorbed, in one way or another, the tragedy of Las Vegas through their families and the news.
Some 40 participants gathered for three days at Villa Madonna in Rothesay, NB to learn from Jan Phillips, author/artist/ activist. Jan is a superb teacher, leading us gently through specific tasks, to create in ways we never thought we could. She used poetry, videos, paper exercises, music, humour and her own story to inspire us to go deeper into truth, exploring our own journey. For me, personally, she stirred up a profound gratitude for the gift of life, all life.
