Fitting in

Do you want kids to fit in, or belong?

“Fitting in means to change yourself for others, belonging means to live to your values by first belonging to yourself.”

Paraphrased from ‘Daring Greatly’ - Brene Brown

While evolution urges us to fit in by default, I wonder how much of that is created by our environment.

In schools, we force students to conform to ONE curriculum. We ask that they enjoy their hobbies in their spare time, that they keep their personal stories until lunch. Their interests don’t matter here, and any semblance of a unique identity is squashed when graduation is at stake.

But is school not the perfect opportunity to get students to take risks, open about their passions and create projects that might or might not work? To learn about their core values, and what meaningful work looks like to them?

We have 13 years (!) of school. That’s 13 years to guide students to become deep thinkers, to live cohesively in society without relinquishing their identity.

Better use that time wisely.