My PTA(c) column: Don't interrupt me

Editor: Don't interrupt me

I cut people short all the time. It is a terrible habit but I always thought of it as interacting rather than interrupting. If I don't, I will surely forget the oh so important addition to the conversation I meant to make or am I just steering the thread to my ideas and away from yours? 

My son, now a college graduate and sort of at loose ends, has been home on and off this summer. He has visited LA, VT, DC, and NYC and then heads off to TX for a 1 year job with Habitat for Humanity. He will be in Austin, the most unTexan city in the state.

He spent a week in the Catskills at a camp for kids who stutter. He is always proclaiming his experiences "life changing" and this was one of those. The rules of engagement have changed at home. We are not to interrupt anyone speaking. We are not to guess their next words or finish their thoughts. 

Camp Our Time is an offshoot of the Our Time Theatre Company. Kids who stutter (They are not stutterers. They are kids who stutter. Think about the difference.) spend a week doing the camp thing - swimming, singing, campfires, bunks, crafts. They are not there for therapy and none is offered. They are treated like the normal kids they are. Unlike at school or home, no one finishes their sentences, no one tells them to take a deep breath or calm down, no one bullies or tortures them, and no one treats them as defective. They get to finish their thoughts and they get to be the person who raises his hand to volunteer his ideas.

This is the camp for nice people. The Golden Rule rules. If a camper is mean, there is a reason. The counselors and other campers look for the good person behind the grump. The campers are treated with love and acceptance. They call camp “the best week of my life.”

September marks the end of summer and the beginning of the year for those of us volunteering on behalf of children. The kids who were lucky enough to attend the camp for nice people will go back to school too. Let us hope that the respect and love they experienced at camp will help get them through the year.

Anti-bullying programs are available through many agencies. This is part of the Health and Wellness advocacy for all children that you can work on through PTA.

Have a really nice year!

Anne Ehrlich
Editor, The Beacon
Western Region PTA Newsletter