By Miles Patrick Yohnke
© 2021 © 2010 All Rights Reserved.
INTRODUCTION TO TEACH OUR CHILDREN WELL
In 2010, I wrote an article titled: "Teach Our Children Well." It was picked up by various inspirational websites around the world and earned many enthusiastic reviews. I received an enormous amount of responses and am grateful to have built deep friendships with many of those who had reached out to me. I decided it was time to add the article to my own website. This is a deeply personal account of my youth. I open the article with two quotes. The opening quote, to bring it into context, was written in 2010 when Facebook was in its infancy. Twitter was new. Instagram did not exist nor did other social media platforms like Tik Tok. Please keep this in mind when reading the opening words to the article. I've also added a new work titled: "Footnote to Teach Our Children Well." It explores the miraculous life of Dr. Jacqueline Marie Maurice, a Sixties Scoop survivor and the obstacles she has overcome.
"Communication companies are the new drug dealers of our youth. What has happened is through competition, these companies were forced to drive down their long distance costs, creating lost revenue. Text messaging came to replace this downfall, preying on our youth. Communicative skills and self-esteem will be greatly affected as a result of this."
"We see Jimi Hendrix, Janis Joplin, Jim Morrison, or Kurt Cobain on t-shirts. Why?
If we think about it, they all killed themselves. None of them were happy in their own skins. As a society why are we embracing them?
Shouldn't we all be wearing Mother Teresa t-shirts?"
Let's teach our children well.
Me? I'm just trying to express myself. Pulling out the ghosts from yesterday's past, overcoming my learning disorder, getting past the tragic loss of my father when I was five or the endless days of pain and hurt from being mercilessly bullied for the first eight years of my schooling.
I'm blessed that for the most part, I can find some positive in all of this. Grateful also! I never want another human being to feel the pain I did. That's why I try to help others. I'm in a good place now. It's from this place that I want to share my words and my thoughts. My life.
Not too long ago, in talks about bullying and schooling, I brought up one event that occurred in those school years. It appears sad but like the other events in my life, I'm grateful for it. It's interesting.
During the thoughts of these events in my mind came this endless quest; this interest on the human condition - a life long human study of why we do what we do. To set up the one event that occurred, I have included an entry from my personal journal. You know, my learning disorder was so bad that by the age of nine I still couldn't spell my last name. I couldn't get the "h" and the "n" correct and in the right place.
It was through my brother Bob and a situation at a bank that became my saving grace.
I was opening a bank account. I had so wanted to save up to buy a Boston Bruins jersey. I had to sign my name to open the account and fear took over me. I told my brother the problem. He, then only eighteen, said: "Think of the "h" as a chair and the "n" sits on it."
Simple. One problem solved. One life-changing event. An eye opener.
....................................
PERSONAL JOURNAL ENTRY:
Thurs, July 27, 2006, 2:15a.m.:
I think about the way I am, trying to make some sense of it.
As a child I faced a tragic event, and by the age of thirteen I had been kicked, beaten, and robbed of my self-esteem. Only my mother and my two older brothers had faith in me. Nobody else saw much hope for me.
I had a learning disability that made it almost impossible to read and write. Through this time of endless pain, I still had this inner voice telling me that I could make a difference in this world. I still had hope. They had taken everything from me but not my hope! I received a lot of internal scars that I keep to this day.
Through these events I became very grateful, as it's made me a homo-sapiens; one with great sentiment. It's given me a vortex of emotions involving vulnerability, pain, anger, hope, love, and a lust for life.
It's made me a prize-fighter!
Still wide-eyed like an infant, I find myself intoxicated by my surroundings. So today I climb the endless mountain, grateful that I can, grateful not knowing what I may find.
Grade 7:
My teacher, who was also our principal, was talking and I always listened so hard to each word. For one thing, I was trying to figure out what he was saying. The other thing was that I always was afraid of the teacher asking me for the answer.
If it wasn't just the verbal abuse around the school or in the hallways, it was the fear I'd be asked a question, the fear of not having the answer, looking stupid and the 30 or so students jumping on me for it.
This particular day as I was sitting off to one side, half way back, he asked me a question. I didn't know the answer and that familiar fear filled my mind. He replied:
"Miles, why don't you come sit up here?" (an open desk in front of him)
I did.
With a piece of chalk in his hand, he drew a mark on me; a line that ran down my nose. The 30 students laughed and I saw his eyes light up (he felt good about himself - empowered). He did it again. A tear glazed my cheek. The class erupted with laughter and again and again and again he repeated this.
We need to teach our children well.
That their dreams are possible. That it's okay to have some hurdles to overcome. To live a life without limits.
Point out their strengths. Build on those strengths and nurture those strengths. When their confidence and self-esteem is high in those areas then, and only then, should we work on their weaknesses. Turn their weaknesses into their strengths. Success is failure turned inside out.
Fill them with proper culture. Great films. Ones that make them think. Music that goes to the core. Lyrics that run deep that provoke the mind. The library system is a great resource for all this.
Show them that their dreams are possible. To live a life without limits.
You see, my teacher had not learned these lessons himself; so sad for him. I believe he was just insecure. Lost in his own life. Another lost soul teaching all the wrong lessons from all his wrong skills.
FOOTNOTE TO TEACH OUR CHILDREN WELL
By Miles Patrick Yohnke
© 2021 All Rights Reserved.
Dr. Jacqueline Marie Maurice has devoted her life to others and speaks on behalf of the Sixties' Scoop survivors. Dr. Maurice and I attended St. Patrick's school at the same time for one year in Saskatoon, Sk. The memories of that shared year will never cease to haunt us. Like Jacqueline, I too was experiencing my own nightmare. I vividly remember the names they used to call us. I remember how Jacqueline looked. How my heart while crying for itself, cried for her as well. Two souls dealing with the same abusive staff and students. Both just looking for a way out of the hell hole.
What I didn't know back then was that she was part of the Sixties' Scoop children. That she had been in foster home after foster home. In fact, she'd been shuffled between 14 foster homes in 14 years.
During the year we had in common, she was being sexually assaulted by her Catholic foster Dad. What I knew and witnessed first-hand was the bullying that she faced. She had epilepsy and most days she'd have seizures in school. Some days up to five.
She was called a freak and other deeply troubling names that I refuse to mention by our fellow students. I refuse to give any attention to their hurtful ways.
On Aug 29, 2017, I saw her for the first time since that shared school year in the 1970s. She was on television. A program on Shaw Cable hosted by the brilliant Simon Hiatt. The guests were Betty Ann Adams and Dr. Maurice.
Four decades later, she hadn't changed in appearance. I knew it was her. I became glued to her words. As many of you, my readers know, I have spent decades devoted to understanding the human condition. Attended endless seminars, courses and have written extensively over many years on the very subject. When I watched and listened to Dr. Maurice, I saw a true pinnacle of peace. A person at complete peace within oneself. It brought forth an unspeakable joy for me to watch that program. As hard as it was to hear the rest of her story that I hadn't known before, it was so inspiring to witness her calm, grace and humanity without any kind of jaggedness. Unbelievable, despite her horrific experiences.
Below is the link to that episode. It's must-see TV. Essential for all of humankind, and for anyone who is on the journey of self-development and self-empowerment!
To watch, please click here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_BzGpOyeyI4
Since the airing of Jacqueline's TV appearance, we have reconnected. The photograph below is from July 1, 2021, when we attended "Bring Them Home."
Dr. Jacqueline Marie Maurice is Chief Executive Officer of the Sixties Scoop Healing Foundation. To learn more, please visit: https://www.sixtiesscoophealingfoundation.ca
The three videos linked below along with my article "Alcohol Conformity" I've included with the hope that the material has stimulated your mind. I would like to expand upon this, thus I have curated these resources for you with the intention of asking more questions; to notice the questions that are unanswered and to stimulate your own personal thoughts about taking action.
Sam Fender - 17 Going Under
Crown Lands - End Of The Road
Nell - Girl In Amber
Alcohol Conformity
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