Review again in

10_years

Teach Not Revulsion: Instead, Teach Wonder

Parent Reflection

A close-up of a bat hanging upside down with a red background.

Have you ever had bats in your attic? Have you jumped when a bat flew swiftly past you in the night? Have you looked at a captive bat up close?

Although in most circumstances bats pose little danger to humans, we often react with fear or revulsion: “What is that thing!?” If you are looking at a bat, a spider, a squirmy worm creature, or a house mouse that way, perhaps you have a good reason. Maybe you had a negative experience with such an animal. Maybe you were warned—rationally or irrationally—at a young age.

But are you needlessly transmitting a negative attitude to your children? You may be inadvertently cultivating a mistrust or dislike of nature.

Children have an innate curiosity about their environment.

Children have an innate curiosity about all aspects of their environment. Their minds are wide open to all the world’s wonders. They come “pre-set” with deep understanding of their own relationship to the differences and connections that form the great web of life of which we are blessed to be a part.

Help children stay generous and appreciative—though always safe—in all their encounters with nature—even with the creatures that make you uncomfortable.

Activity: Let It Be

Does someone in your family—maybe you—strongly dislike a particular common wild animal? Some people fear spiders, snakes, or mice. Some fear all kinds of flying insects. Chances are the animal you dislike has an important place in our interconnected web of life. and, unless you are highly allergic (some people are allergic to bee stings), chances are the animal will not harm you if you take common sense safety precautions.

Could you try to become more comfortable with the animal you do not like?

  • Visit the animal in captivity. a tarantula in a terrarium cannot hurt you. Take time to look at its individual features. See if you can find beauty there. if not, why not? Think about it.
  • Find photographs of the animal in magazines and online. put them together as a collage.
  • Look up 10 facts about the animal. is there anything you and it might have in common?

Calm your fears about the earth’s stranger creatures.

  • Believe that each and every one belongs. as Unitarian Universalists, we lift up our connection to nature, and we respect the natural world and all that is in it.