Young Children Show Acute Discernment
Our self esteemed PM Helen Clark was visiting a primary school and asked to look in on one of the classes.
They were in the middle of a discussion related to words and their meanings.
The teacher asked Mrs Clark if she would like to lead the discussion on the word 'tragedy'.
So our illustrious leader asked the class for an example of a 'tragedy' to show the difference between that and an 'accident' or a 'great loss'. One little boy stood up and offered: 'If my best friend, who lives on a farm, is playing in the field & a tractor runs over him and kills him, that would be a 'tragedy.'
No,' said our Helen 'that would be an accident.'
A little girl raised her hand: 'If a school bus carrying fifty children drove over a cliff, killing everyone inside, that would be a tragedy.' 'I'm afraid not,' explained Helen 'that's what we would call great loss.'
The room went silent. No other children volunteered. Helen searched the room. 'Isn't there someone here who can give me an example of a tragedy?' Finally, at the back of the room, a small boy raised his hand... In a quiet voice he said: 'If A plane carrying you and Mr Clark was struck by a 'friendly fire' missile & blown to smithereens, that would be a tragedy.'
'Fantastic!' exclaimed Helen. 'That's right. And can you tell me why that would be tragedy?'
'Well,' says the boy 'it has to be a tragedy, because it certainly wouldn't be a great loss and it probably wouldn't be an accident either!'
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