As
one who lives in a residential community I have long been interested
in the work of Bruderhof in general, and the writings of Arnold
in particular. In my view this book is his best so far. It is full
of what is perhaps best described as wisdom, a rare commodity in
a world full of data and information, but short of mature reflection
and conversation. It was no surprise to find that several of my
mentors were quoted during the course of the argument: Dostoevsky,
Victor Frankl, Fröbel, Gibran, Kafka, Kingsolver, Korczak,
Kozol, Tolstoy and Vanier. It always helps when you feel you are
in company you have come to respect.
So
what is special about Endangered that has compelled me to share
it with you? The readiness to speak from a full heart informed by
a keen mind and lifelong observation and learning. No punches are
pulled by an elder statesman for children who believes that the
world we have created for them is putting them, as a species, at
risk.
He
quotes Mumia Abu-Jamal, “We live in a world that fears and
hates its young. How else can one explain the bequest of such a
foul, polluted and hollow inheritance? This generation, which came
of age in the midst of a rising tide of human liberation movements,
is now one of the most repressive in human history…It bleeds
resources from already crumbling urban and rural schools and aids
and abets an irrelevant education whose core message is obedience…Our
children hunger for love…They have all of the latest toys,
but no love…They are drowning in a sea of lovelessness…”
(pages 7-8).
This
is serious stuff, and some might think that, in reflecting on American
childhood, Abu-Jamal has gone over the top, but Arnold is prepared
to bring considerable evidence to bear in support of these dramatic
claims. He analyses the commodification of social life and its effects
on childhood as it works its inexorable way through every aspect
of life, families, work, schools and fashion. Everything seems to
conspire against quality time between children and their parents
and unconditional parental love.
The
section on education is a strident indictment of the British-American
system, which stresses achievement and success in certain limited
areas and has turned its back on the educational philosophy of people
like Montessori, Fröbel, and Rousseau, all of whom stress the
environment for learning and the importance of each child developing
at its own pace, allowing time for heart and soul to keep in time
and tune with mind and body. A ready-reckoner is to check the significance
attached to imaginative play in any educational system: that will
tell 
you
most of what you need to know. For play is probably the most sophisticated
and child-friendly form of learning.
There are several moving case studies throughout this rich book.
It reminded me of those beautiful volumes by Paul Tournier, a Swiss
psychiatrist whose methods still inspire me thirty years after reading
them. These studies reveal how deeply children feel about divorce
and separation, and the guilt and shame they experience while the
adult world seeks to paper over the cracks with legal and psychological
jargon.
Arnold
reminded me how easy it is for a teacher, parent and social worker
to be so caught up in the spirit of our times that we become insensitive
to the timeless needs and qualities of children. I have been forced
to ponder afresh my own parenthood in this light.
If
you ask where is the remedy for all this, then clearly it isn’t
in the form of a political or educational manifesto. It involves
rather a paradigm shift, where children are brought in from the
margins and invisibility of existing discourses, and we re-examine
the social institutions we have allowed to be constructed in our
times, with a “child in the midst”. Jesus advocated
this two thousand years ago and we have been rather slow on the
up-take!
Whether
I have convinced you that it is worth reading Endangered for yourself
I have no way of knowing, but I leave you with a quote from one
of the poems (page 46) which I use most frequently when lecturing
about childhood. It’s by Jane Clement:
child,
though I am meant to teach you much,
what is it, in the end,
except that together we are
meant to be children
of the same Father,
and I must unlearn
all the adult structure
and the cumbering years
and you must teach me
to look at the earth and heaven
with your fresh wonder.
For
me that sums up the essence of things.
If you want to read more, Endangered is published by Plough, USA
and UK.
Keith J. White lives and cares for children and young people
in Mill Grove where his family has lived for four generations.
Since 1899 it has been a family home where children unable
to live with their own parents have been welcomed
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read
Endangered by Johann Christian Arnold. Arnold is a member of the
Bruderhof, a community dedicated to providing children with an environment
where they are free to be children. He is also the father of eight
children and has written widely on the subject.
