During one of the Sagip* sessions I handled the activity was for the kids to learn a song and create their own actions. While observing them I noticed that although I was 14-17 years older than them, they mirror some of the behavior of my generation. Some kept talking to their teammates about non-related stuff, they do not listen while others are performing in front, they kept on practicing even though I told them to take their seats already, etc. Not that I'm trying to put down my fellow elders. I was just amused to realize that some things do not change even as we grow old. Some do grow up to be more behave, more disciplined, or mature but there are things that might be hard to stop.
Another lesson I learned is that there are times when the output will not be what you expected. Although I told them to create actions for the Hail Mary song, some asked if they can just perform other songs. At first I tried to help them but in the end, I had to give in because I realized that if I wanted them to perform confidently, I have to let them feel comfortable and happy with what they are doing. I mean, these are kids ages 6-12 and my role was to teach them something good. So I let them do Papuri sa Diyos and Kordero ng Diyos and they were happy. One group even had a repeat performance because they wanted to do better. Maybe if I had insisted that they do the Hail Mary (they already had actions for it but decided to do Kordero ng Diyos instead), they would not have felt the need to exert their best effort.
Although I was a kid once like them, I think I have already forgotten what it was like to be one. Maybe I better get in touch with my inner child so that I'll be able to connect with them and be a better Ate to them.
*Sagip is a volunteer program under the Gawad Kalinga which aims to teach kids ages 7-12 about good values, etc.
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