tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8881698496597481472.post-58448055619767439792009-06-24T09:16:00.002Z2009-06-24T09:38:02.606ZIn the Child Development Program we have been talking about the Fruit of the Spirit.  Yesterday we got to "gentleness".  I asked the kids what it meant to be gentle, and not a single child knew.  I thought this was a fluke, so I went to my next home and repeated the question.  Again, not a single child knew what it meant to be gentle.  I was a bit surprised as some of these kids are 16-17 years old.  So I came home and conducted an informal survey and asked some of our staff.  They also did not know the word gentle, except in the context of "ladies and gentlemen".<div>So we've had to change tactics from encouraging a behavior to totally teaching a new concept. Most of the kids in the homes are not gentle by nature.  They are rough with the smaller children, they beat on each other regularly, and they feel that they need to shout to get their point across.  The louder and rougher child gets his way.  It's a learned behavior as most of the kids haven't had good examples of gentleness.  </div><div>So we're back at the beginning: again searching for creative ways to share these character traits in a culturally relevant way and striving to raise up healthy, compassionate young adults.    </div><div class="blogger-post-footer"><img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/8881698496597481472-5844805561976743979?l=www.orphanreliefandrescue.org%2Fblog'/></div>Marielnoreply@blogger.com3