Where Will The Children Play? Kindergarteners Social Advocate Songbirds!

Where will the children play? An interactive Q & A session with NYC councilman Kallos and NYC kindergarteners By Victoria Comerchero, Ph.D

What is an advocate? As a parent who was lucky enough to be present on this interactive and intimate tour inside city hall chambers the idea that explaining advocacy to kindergarten children seemed almost impossible
But not according to Councilman Ben Kallos who hosted the tour on june 17, 2014.

“Its hard work to advocate for change” he explained bringing this abstract concept down to the k level. But you have to persist and persevere.

I smiled and could not help but chime in by whispering to the class “you guys are already advocates” you put on a play remember when you sang that song “where will the children play?” Then something unexpected happen I was simply anticipating that the kids would nod submissively and simply wait for the next question. But in contrast in unison the children sang the entire adapted version of the song which begins with the line “Well I used to play in my favorite park but they cut down all the trees to build a super mart..”.

I thought they would mumble or forget lyrics after all this was certainly not part of the “script of the trip” but as they finished the song “I know we’ve come a long way were changing every single day but tell me where will the children play??

The timing could not have been better as it followed a discussion where Kallos explained how he was working to “dump the dump” referring to the fiscally irresponsible dump that is already being built where Asphalt Green, a landmark NYC playground sits. “It’s kind of like spending your college fund on ice cream” laughter erupted as the kids quickly caught on to this age appropriate example of the abstract concept of fiscally responsible spending.

The question and answer session was followed by allowing the children to sit where the lawmakers sat and they started to chant yet another line from
A recent school play focusing on environmental issues, “Ban toxic pesticides instead use natures pesticides..”. At times the children so invigorated even put their hands on the table further driving this point home.

We thank Councilman Kallos and his staff for their time and dedication to so many important causes such as healthy school lunches, banning pesticides in Central Park and taking a firm stand against NYC plan to continue building a toxic waste dump.

So in concluding this review, I ask this question as an advocate for my own 2 young daughters, “Where will the children play?” Perhaps by working as a collaborative community, a fiscally and environmentally responsible answer will emerge but until we dump the dump and ban toxic pesticides I will encourage my daughters to continue singing the song of social advocacy.

Thank you again to Councilman Ben Kallos and Paula Rogovin, author of several books on inquiry teaching and behavior management, who has been teaching for NYC DOE for 40 plus years . Paula is a unique teacher in how she is able to infuse social advocacy even in the youngest of children. This was most directly proven by the children’s reactions on our tour as prior to 2013, Paula only taught 1st grade. This, anyone who questions if our youngest children are capable of applying social justice and/or stick to Piaget and Kohlberg’s linear stages of development might want to re-examine their views.

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