Most of you probably remember the classic TV show - "Kids Say the Darndest Things” - it was hosted back in the day by Art Linkletter and later reprised by Bill Cosby. While it was mostly a comedy show - it was often highlighted by poignant responses from kids who view the world in a refreshingly candid and truthful way. In fact, before every show - Art Linkletter said this about why he interviewed kids and why the show worked - take a look:
I've been talking to people on radio and television for 19 years, and I've found that the most interesting and the best interviews are with ladies over 80 ad with children under 10, and for the same reason. They till you the truth, without fear or favor they answer any question you want to know.
"They tell you the truth without fear or favor."
That’s unlike a politician who tells you what he needs to say to get re-elected.
That’s unlike a business person who tells you what they need to say to sell a product.
That’s unlike a religious leader who tells you what he believes based on his dogma.
A kid is like a blank slate - viewing the world with clarity - and without the jaded experiences that cause most of us to shrug our shoulders and say, “that’s just the way it always was, the way it is”.
Kids will even challenge power without realizing it - remember the story about the little boy who pointed out that the king wasn't wearing any clothes?
Case in point - Russellville Middle School in Arkansas.
A controversy exploded at the school when it was discovered that students slipped a not-so-politically-correct Top 5 list into the school yearbook without their teachers noticing.
The list was titled "The Top 5 Worst People of All Time” and the top 3 were the usual suspects - Adolph Hitler - Osama Bin Laden - and Charles Manson.
But coming at numbers 4 and 5 on the list… George W. Bush and Dick Cheney.
Again - this was a list put in the yearbook by the students.
As you can imagine - Republican parents were outraged - but since the yearbooks had already gone to print, little could be done about it but to put a piece of black tape over the list - something that could be easily removed.
And in the end - someone at the school will probably lose their job over this…which is a shame because - as Art Linkletter told us - kids have a knack for telling the truth.
Instead of dismissing what they say - maybe we should dig a little deeper and figure out WHY they said it.
And by looking at this list they created - it’s clear that the students have equated violence and warfare with evil.
After all - in these kids' historical knowledge there was the horror of World War II and the Holocaust - and in their own lifetimes there were the horrors visited upon the United States by Bin Laden and the terrors dumped on Iraq and Afghanistan by Bush and Cheney.
The emperors who kids see as nakedly evil, but whose crimes too many adults - including our President - refuse to acknowledge.
And though patriotism or politics or religion may distort how our view of things works and render unimaginable the thought of a US president and vice president belonging on the same list as mass murderers - terrorists - and psychopathic killers - kids don’t have that same filter.
They just see things as they are - and, frankly, the rest of us should pay closer attention to their observations.
That's The Big Picture.
