A new sculpture park in my community connects artists from around the world with local families. One such contributor is Doug Gruizenga, an artist who was formerly a social worker. Gruizenga’s piece is a large aluminum dragon entitled “Please Sit Down, Read Me a Story.”
When asked about his inspiration for the impressive piece, Gruizenga put it this way: “It seems as though the dragons are probably just as scared of us as we are of them, or they wouldn’t be acting so weird and scary. Fear drives anger. What’s the solution to that?”
“Well, if you get to know somebody or something and you gain knowledge of them, you’re generally not afraid anymore. You kind of become friends.” The sculptor hopes that children will spend time with the dragon—reading him a story—and therefor overcome their fear.
His openness feels like a cool breeze, coming as it does during this summer of fear and anger. I wonder if Gruizenga’s theory might apply to these conflicts. If we mistrust Muslims, can we spend time with some law-abiding adherents to the Quran and listen to their perspective? If we fear law-enforcement officials, can we ride along with them to understand the challenges they face?
Many adults are so very entrenched on their sides that they are no longer open to “spending time” with those they fear or hate. But children are open to the possibilities in all people.
Especially during the early years of life, children bring no negative assumptions about anyone.
Children embrace possibility in other kids. They discover common ground as they find new interesting friends who also like to build with blocks or kick a ball. These informal encounters begin to write a story in their minds about good experiences with other kids who may look or speak differently.
Parents can help our society move to greater acceptance by simply giving their children the opportunity to know people from diverse backgrounds. With positive experiences growing up, children arrive at adulthood with more understanding and less fear of those who are different.
Doug Gruizenga is right. Spending time with others makes them less scary. It works for dragons, and it works for people, too.
