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| Several of the YS team |
So
a team of eight of us signed in, donned our Young Skeptics t-shirts,
and waited for the kids to show up. Compared to the several dozen kids who attend the school's Good News Club, we were off to a slow
start – two intrepid sisters, ages 5 and 9. No matter – we plunged right
in, and these two adorable girls were totally game! I sat down at
their table with them, to try to take the pressure off of them to
answer all of Dan's questions, and to encourage a little silliness.
At one point their father came in to observe, along with the reporter
(and she interviewed him as well as Dan: http://www.13wham.com/news/features/top-stories/stories/young-skeptics-club-first-meeting-19309.shtml).
Dan
had attended a Good News Club meeting a while back and encouraged the
rest of the team to do the same, so off I trundled the next day to
observe their meeting. When I approached Beth, the woman who appeared
to be in charge, she seemed very defensive and secretive, and said
she'd have to check with someone because they are very “protective
of the kids” from outsiders (since I am not in that district, and I
don't have kids in the school), and since they are a private club,
they have no legal obligation to let me observe. She escorted me out
of their main meeting room, and closed the door. I waited patiently
in the hall and watched as various kids in the club were whisked away
to other rooms (one instructor carried a sign ominously titled
“Consequences”). After ten minutes, Beth returned with her
husband, Richard, who informed me I was not welcome today, but I
could request permission by calling him two weeks in advance of a
future meeting, so he could discuss my background and motives (I
suggested that we could do that right there and then, but he wanted
to defer to his team to make a decision). I did ask him what he was
afraid of, since I promised to be quiet, not take pictures, etc., and
suggested that perhaps my impression of the group might be favorably
changed by observing, but he expressed his doubt at that. It seemed to me they felt a little threatened by my presence! (Dan later pointed me to the school district's website that states that meetings by community groups, such as YS and Good News Club, must be open to the public: http://www.cccsd.org/files/filesystem/3280%20July%202009.pdf). Wish I'd had that in my back pocket at the time!)
The
goal of the Young Skeptics Club is to encourage kids to think, not to
tell them what to think (which the Good News Club has covered –
they specifically target impressionable young elementary school kids,
and I can imagine that their “weapons are fear and surprise”...).
I'll be co-developing the lesson plan for our February meeting, whose
topic is “Evidence.” Everyone is welcome, no need to call in
advance for permission (the kids do need permission slips from their
parents). I hope someday some of the Good News Club coordinators get
curious enough to join us. But I suspect curiosity is not in their
wheelhouse, although that's just my opinion...
Other fun links:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Good_News_Club (down at the bottom)
"weapons are fear and surprise" ... so it's not always Sondheim (http://rochreflections.blogspot.com/2014/10/infinity-boxes-by-matt-elson-at.html)
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