As Society Unravels, Let's Stitch Up Sectors

 Warning: this is going to be a very meandering blog post with lots of twists and turns and tangents. You have been alerted to the danger.

Have you ever seen the trend about asking men how often they think about the Roman empire?

I asked my husband, and he admitted that he thinks about the Roman empire at least once a day.

This is why I thought he would be a worthwhile candidate to ask about the fall of Rome as well as the end of the medieval era. (When I first met my husband, he was doing graduate work at the University of Toronto's Pontifical Institute of Medieval Studies.)

When do historians generally agreed that the fall of Rome occurred? He listed a few key dates / events:

• 410 AD = the sacking of the city of Rome by the Visigoths
• 476 AD = the deposing of the last Western Roman emperor
• 1453 AD = the fall of Constantinople

As for the end of the medieval era, he also offered a few different opinions:

• 1453 AD = the fall of Constantinople
• 1492 AD = Columbus' first journey to the Western Hemisphere
• 1517 AD = the publication of Martin Luther's 95 Theses

I ask about this both out of academic curiosity and because I wonder about the decline of our current society. In Grade 4 social studies, the students are learning about ancient civilization (and struggling a bit with some of the content).  Both in the news and just in family conversations, we've noticed that things feel like they are falling apart. I see a lot more disdain for authority and a disregard for rules, such as when I am driving. (Dear Toronto Police Services - if you want to make a lot of money with traffic tickets, please target all the illegal U-turns done in the middle of the Morningside Avenue near the 401.) My family members report that every time they use public transit, they witness at least one person participating in blatant fare evasion. Families don't feel as if they are as tight-knit or close as they used to be. Fewer people are having children, and those children seem to have a harder time socially, academically, and emotionally, including hardship managing without constant electronic tablet entertainment. Young adults are struggling to find a job that can pay the bills, or a way to afford to buy a home of their own. Inflation is growing and everything feels so expensive.

All of this can feel rather depressing. I confess that I felt it more this week because a new child arrived in our school with a host of challenging behaviours. It's incredible how a single person can disrupt an entire building. 

Still, within the despair of compiling report card marks and worrying that students aren't picking up ideas at the pace and level one hopes, and dealing with oppositional and dangerous conduct, there are moments that remind me not to get too discouraged. One example was inspired by the Grade 7s as they hung out in the library during the previous week's School Concert. The students decided to dress up one of their peers using large swaths of fabric that I have in the makerspace. My initial reaction was one of "What ON EARTH are these students up to?" but it mellowed as I saw the cooperation and delight. It inspired me to try it as a center with the kindergarten students. 

I really liked witnessing the creativity and problem solving. The students weren't told how to attach the fabric or how to dress the mannequin. They used various techniques of their own to fit the material where they wanted and make it stay, such as tying, threading through the metal skeleton, or using clothes pins.

I also liked seeing the teamwork, as groups of four students used the cloth to design all sorts of outfits. The end result was never the same. Here are photos of each of the groups in action, far from the finale.

Another way we can "stitch up society" might be through "taking care of our environment". On Friday, my husband and son came to my school library and spent the entire morning putting away all of the returned library books that I did not have a chance to shelve. While they did this, they fixed up all the messy shelves, with books out of order, spilled on the floor, and turned with the spines hidden. Making the space tidy and orderly brought me such a profound sense of calm, and their volunteer efforts filled me with gratitude. I begged the afternoon classes using the library not to destroy what my beloved menfolk worked so hard to restore, and for the most part, the students respected the request.

So, even though there are times where it feels like the world is going "to hell in a handbasket", it's important to try to make small differences in your own tiny corners and to notice the little moments of joy and goodness.