Choose Kind and Be the Example!

One of the many things I love about Wa-Klo is that we are in our “little corner of the World”. Within this world, we have our little bubble that shields us from many things. In every community you join, there will be social norms, unwritten rules that guide people’s behaviors. In some of your communities at home like in school for example, you might find that there are some negative behaviors you witness or even partake in. In other communities, being unkind to someone or speaking about them in a negative manner behind their back might be a part of the social norms; a behavior that is accepted.

The idea that Wa-Klo is shielded a bit from the outside world allows us to create and uphold our own social norms.  One of these social norms, I talk to new families about is our understanding of the importance of being kind to one another. When new members join our community here, we sometimes have to help them learn what behaviors are expected. We communicate our priorities with our words as well as our actions. This is a time where each one of you has an opportunity to be a leader. You can lead by example; be kind to others, include someone who might need a partner or a group, respectfully confront someone with whom you might have a disagreement with.

There are times throughout this summer where you might slip back into norms from other communities, forgetting what our community’s social norms are. That’s ok! We all make mistakes. You can apologize and pick an action that can make up for whatever error you made. We all make mistakes; you just have to fix it and move forward!

A quote that has impacted me and has guided me through life is something that Carl W. Buehner stated. “They may forget what you said-but they will never forget how you made them feel.