Fairness in February

On Wednesday, many of our students received Bayview Hill Bengal character awards, recognized for their perseverance.  Students demonstrated this in several ways.  Some students were recognized for persevering to learn English as a second language, continuing to work hard at a challenging task, and to learn new skills in physical education that were then applied to a game.  In February, students are encouraged to think about FAIRNESS and how they can demonstrate being fair.  Fairness can be a very abstract concept for students to learn.  At school, fairness means that everyone gets what he or she needs and not necessarily what he or she wants.  Fair doesn't mean equal. Sometimes being fair and equal is easy, like when you are dividing up shares of a chocolate bar but other times, it is much more abstract and can be challenging, like when a student's needs dictate that he/she go first in line all the time.  Part of our conversations, announcements and discussions at school this month will focus on Black History.  We will focus on the fair treatment of people and celebrate their contributions to our world.  One of the most difficult concepts around fairness is explaining to our children that life isn't fair.  Disappointment is inevitable, and how our children handle disappointment sets them up for how to handle situations when life just doesn't seem fair.   Teaching our children to be resilient is one of the most important things we can do as parents and educators.