I recently proposed that children (of every age) use a Four Word Phrase when confronted with difficulties.  The phrase(s) indicate something about their attitudes, self concept, and how they perceive their environment.  I had suggested that children learn these phrases from The Child & Adolescent Guide for Manipulating Adults but really they learn them from us -- their parents and teachers.  Here are what some people submitted as "magic phrases" and my quick analysis of what it tells us about the child and his/her environment.

Now this is just a quick classification - I'd be open to hearing clarifications and improvements to the above.

Whether the above is accurate or not, the point I want to make is that the phrases people use "to get out of trouble" tell us something about them.  It also tells us something about ourselves  - because they learn them from us.

For example. how many times have you heard a student say "I forgot my meds"?  And how many times have you heard a teacher say under his/her breath or to a co-worker "He needs his meds"?  I bet there is a high correlation between the two.

We don't think we are teaching kids all the  time, but we teach as much by the content of our character as we do by the content of our curriculum.  We teach as much by our interactions WITH students as we do by our presentations TO them.

I'll discuss this more in the next article.