This might be a bit of an overshare. But I am old enough to not particularly care.
I do two things quite a lot. In my own time, I read current affairs more than is “normal”, and in my work time, I focus on what the future might be for the next generation. Sometimes they conflate. Sometimes that’s good, sometimes it's not.
Now is not a good time to have a conflation. Most of the world is in the toilet. And most of what isn’t in the toilet is burning.
I have never been so concerned for the next generation because of current affairs. Sure, I’ve felt like this before, but of late, as my favourite non-Jedi said: I’ve got a really bad feeling about this.
Until today.
Today, I stumbled across this quote from Fred Rogers:
“When I was a boy and I would see scary things in the news, my mother would say to me, ‘Look for the helpers. You will always find people who are helping.’ To this day, especially in times of ‘disaster,’ I remember my mother’s words, and I am always comforted by realising that there are still so many helpers—so many caring people in this world.”
I hadn’t heard this before – but perhaps you have. Apparently, it has become problematic in the US in recent years. It has been shared as a conciliatory meme after the unspeakable horror of mass shootings and the like, and it seems that many adults have forgone its inherent optimism, and it’s become an apologist for tragedy.
But the thing is, Fred’s mum didn't say it for adults in the 2020s. She said it to her child in the 1930s. A time not entirely different to today. And it was said to a child when they needed to hear it – at a particular point in his development. That child became a model for emotional intelligence and became a man with a legacy of compassion that few have surpassed. This bloke symbolised tolerance, patience, understanding and unconditional love.
Maybe as parents, when our children are looking at a world that is falling apart, maybe we can remind them to look for the helpers, and in so doing, maybe we might be able to remind ourselves that actually, things are going to turn out just fine because you will always find people that are helping. Always. But even more important than that, it’s worth reminding ourselves that one of the many things that all children have in common is that they want to help, too.
