Growing Children
by
Jack Anderson
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Growing Children
So you scold them and spank them and send them to prayer meetings,
you lock them in at night early and put them to bed,
still
they turn on you, waving beer bottles, flicking ashes, they scream
that you never let them have a life of their own,
and they run off with grease monkeys or with hash-house waitresses,
and one day they corner you and stab you with an ice pick
and as your life ebbs away you watch your blood stain your carpet,
and there's your name in shocked whispers on everyone's lips.
So you tell them you're their pal, you let them stay up late,
you let them bring their friends home to play loud music and get high,
still,
even as you try hard to feel how they feel,
they turn on you screaming, "You are stealing our lives!
There is no part of our lives left that we can call ours!"
and they stamp down the hall and slash their wrists with a razor
and as their lives ebb away they watch their blood stain your carpet,
and there's your name in shocked whispers on everyone's lips.
-- Jack Anderson
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[Discussion]
Begin the lesson with a discussion about upbringing.
- Talk about the kind of upbringing your students had (or are still having).
Was it strict or lenient?
- What exactly do they understand by a strict or lenient upbringing?
- Have your students come up with examples of things stern parents do
and of things soft parents do.
- Do they ever quarrel with their parents? If so, what about?
- How are they going to bring up their own children? Will it be different
from the way they were brought up? Why (not)?
[The poem]
Give your students a copy of the poem from which relevant words have been
erased. For example: 'lock' (line 2), 'life' (line 5), 'stab' (line 7),
'pal' (line 10), 'high' (line 11), 'stealing' (line 14), 'ours' (line
15), 'slash' (line 16). You can take out other words if you wish.
Divide your class in groups of three or four students and have them complete
the poem. When they have finished they must write the words they have
thought of on the blackboard.
Discuss the poem:
The word 'so' in lines 1 and 10 seems to indicate that the parents try
to raise their children after someone's advice or instructions, e.g. pedagogues,
doctors, their own parents.
Stanza 1 describes a strict upbringing (punishment, religion) which fails.
The children grow to hate their parents.
In stanza 2 the children are given more freedom (drugs, music). The parents
try to understand them. They try to share their experiences. This is no
good either. The children commit suicide in order to escape their meddling
parents.
The poem is not about one particular parent but about parents in general.
The form of the poem (many short sentences strung together: and ... and
... and ... 7x) shows how weary and desperate the parents are. No matter
what they do, they are to blame.
While discussing the poem you reveal the original words in the poem.
Go back to the words your students wrote on the blackboard. Talk about
the merits and demerits of any alternative words, but do not make it easy
on them. They should come up with reasons for approval or disapproval,
not you!
[Translation]
Have your students translate the poem into Dutch. They must do so in duos.
One student translates stanza 1, the other stanza 2. After finishing their
part of the poem they must arrive at a consensus about a translation of
the whole poem. The translation of words or phrases that occur in both
stanzas must be identical.
This is a possible translation:
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Opgroeiende kinderen
Goed, je scheldt ze dus de huid vol, je geeft ze er van langs, je stuurt ze naar de bidstond,
je sluit ze 's avonds vroeg in huis op en stopt ze in bed,
maar toch
keren ze zich tegen je, zwaaien met bierflessen, strooien as, schreeuwen
dat je ze nooit een eigen leven hebt gegund,
en gaan er dan vandoor met automonteurs of diensters uit een gribusrestaurant,
en op een dag zetten ze je klem en rijgen je aan een ijspriem
en terwijl je leven langzaam wegebt zie je je bloed je vloerbedekking kleuren,
en alom fluistert men ontzet je naam.
Goed, je zegt dat je hun makker bent, je laat ze 's avonds opblijven,
je laat ze al hun vriendjes meebrengen, om keihard muziek te maken en zich stoned te roken,
maar toch,
net als je zo je best doet om te voelen wat zij voelen,
keren ze zich tegen je en schreeuwen: "Je pakt ons heel ons leven af!
Er is geen stukje leven meer dat nog een beetje van onszelf is!"
en lopen stampend door de gang en snijden met een scheermes zich de polsen door
en terwijl hun leven langzaam wegebt zien ze hun bloed je vloerbedekking kleuren,
en alom fluistert men ontzet je naam.
-- Jack Anderson
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