Today I had a really interesting conversation
with a 5th grade class. We started out talking about the Thanksgiving holiday
and one student mentioned that they went shopping for Black Friday. The
majority of the class had heard of Black Friday and the student went on to point
out that today was Cyber Monday. This spurred on a conversation about what is
Cyber Monday exactly. At that point I realized that these kids were born in
2001-2002 and Cyber Monday started in 2005.
Almost immediately it turned into a deep
conversation where all of the students were engaged. What is the purpose of
Cyber Monday? Are there actually decent sales on Cyber Monday? Why bother
having Cyber Monday? The students asked thought provoking questions that caught
my attention. We spent some time looking at electronics and other items on
Wal-Mart’s website. Most of the students knew what the going price was for
certain items and could actually validate whether the item was really on sale
or not.
The student who initially mentioned Black Friday
brought up the fact that she watched two adults fighting over a toy in a retail
store. Several students commented with questions like “Why would they do
something stupid like that?” and “Who would want to go to jail over a toy?”.
Others made comments like “It’s just stuff, it’s not something you NEED”. These
comments were the ones that got my attention. First, that adults get so
intensely involved into buying things that they lose sight of what is really
important and kids are left to watch. Second, that these 10 and 11 year olds
clearly understand the concept of NEEDS vs. WANTS.
I don’t know if it is a result of the economy or
the students’ parents, but I think today everyone experienced an Ah ha! moment during
our class.
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