Now, That's a Change

Here's what happened: I told my students that they could pick anything, and I truly meant that, anything, that bothered them for the Making a Difference: Writing for Change thing that we're doing in class. I wanted them to choose something they really cared about, whether it was about themselves, their family, friends, community, state, country, planet, whatever-- no issue was too big or too small for them to take a stand on, as long as it was authentic.

After brainstorming and freewriting and discussing, each student had identified an issue, and the next step was to research, particularly because one of my objectives was to encourage them to understand the problem before jumping to a solution. This is an idea that I have come lately to, because I am a problem-solver from way back. If something is wrong, I want to fix it right away and move on. I don't think I'm alone in this approach. Think about it; when a friend tells you she's tired, what's your response? If you're like me, it's to offer at least a half-dozen suggestions: Maybe you should go to bed earlier? Take a nap? Get some exercise? Cut back on caffeine? See a doctor? Tell your husband to get up with the kids next time? Usually, I'm all about the end game instead of looking at the big picture.

True, any one of my ever-so-excellent suggestions might be the answer to my friend's dilemma, but should she go by trial and error hoping to find the cure? Maybe if she took a bit more time to define the problem, the chances of finding a lasting solution would be greater, and in that case, to be a good and helpful friend, perhaps I could listen more carefully and ask questions before offering my litany of fixes. That's what I'm encouraging my students to do, too.

At the end of the pre-writing stage, they had an assortment of valid concerns ranging from gum under the table to global warming, but there was one problem that I simply could not accept. There are too many dumb shows on TV. Come on, I thought, just change the channel or read a book. What's the big deal? And I made that student use her second choice, because old habits die hard. At least that's what I realized later, when I tried to understand why I was troubled by my decision (but before I resolved to fix it by letting that student pursue her TV topic).