Gossip Mongers

"The most destructive force in the universe is gossip" ~Peter Hwang

Monday's lesson was gossip.  Something we are all guilty of at least once in our life.  I particularly like the set of lessons we are on because I learn myself even as an adult to pay more attention to my actions and words.  I think my friend's quote is perfect for this, because gossip is destructive to everyone involved.  My team struggles to focus on negatives during the lessons.  They really dislike it and would rather focus on the positive things they can do instead.  I kind of wonder if its that hopeful optimism that we all wish we had that all the kids at this age have.  I notice the 5th graders are starting to get these lessons a little differently as they are starting to transition in just a few more weeks from elementary school to middle school.  I almost feel badly for them as I know and remember the gossip mongers of middle school.  Middle school is mildly full of nightmarish memories for so many of us, including me.

I am glad that the girls try hard to talk about how there can be good gossip but I tell them our focus today is the negative gossip and its effects and how we can control it ourselves using methods that we have.  

So we had our first 'rain' day.  If you read my blog from last season you can tell that I had to learn to accommodate weeks of indoor training.  It was hard on the girls and myself missing being outdoors.  I am not a wimp, I can run in cold or rain myself but not both.  And I didn't want to risk getting these kids sick so I made sure to be protective when it was raining.

I started training at a new gym called Crazy88's.  I fell in love with the Brazilian JuJitsu classes and boot camp courses.  And what I really loved is that it has given me ideas of cardio and muscle building exercises that can be done indoors without weights.  I hate to say I have been stealing my workout ideas for my team from a gym that teaches MMA.  Almost seems like it might be too intense but the girls love it.  I do simple exercises like running in place, jumps, squats, planks, etc...  I also make sure to give them alternate ways to do something if they are unable to do a specific move.  I have one girl who has been trying so hard but she is physically not able to do certain moves and so I usually try to put her next to me so that I can give her the alternate and encourage her for the effort she is putting forward.  I am also super aware of the girls' form so I will correct it when I can because the last thing I want is an injury.

So after wearing the girls out for 25 minutes we did our lesson of gossip.  I like this, as I already stated, but it bears repeating.  I think it is human nature in a way to spread gossip.  We are not intentionally trying to hurt anyone but we are just social beings that like to talk and be heard and gossip is the best way to garner someone's full attention.

Funny thing is a had a really bad bruise on my arm from working out.  The girls were kind of worried about me and I had to go through the whole story about it with them.  I used this to my advantage and said the following, "What if after this story one of you decided to tell an adult like your teacher or parent that Coach Jillianne got beat up by a boy and her arms are covered in bruises, but you left off the part that it was during her training in a controlled setting where an instructor was watching over and its just the nature of a full contact sport". The girls said,  it wouldn't be too bad.  I went through a series of gossip chain stringing from this initial line said to an adult:

Person 1-Coach Jillianne is covered in bruises from being beat up by a boy
Person 2-I heard Coach Jillianne is getting beat up and is covered in bruises
Person 3-I heard Coach Jillianne is talking to the girls about being abused by a guy because they saw her bruises
Person 4-I heard Coach Jillianne is in danger because one of her girls on the team saw her covered in bruises and she heard it was some guy that hit her
Person 5-I heard Coach Jillianne is getting beat up by her boyfriend and she is just playing it off to the girls that she coaches
Person 6-I heard Coach Jillianne and her daughters are in an abusive situation....

Now the gossip has grown dangerous because now Coach Jillianne and her daughters seem to be in danger and a person who is not aware of the truth might try to step in and protect her daughters from what looks to be an abusive situation and Jillianne has the bruises to prove it.

I think the girls really understood at this point the dangers of Gossip.  We did other activities that showed them why it can be such a negative behavior but the thing that really stuck with them was that the effects of their gossip could hurt people.

So in closing, for this days activities I leave you all with this thought.  You can be the source for gossip or you can be the solution.