I used this poem for a teachers workshop and found that it was an excellent way to bring up relevant and interesting discussions.
A Prayer For Childrenby Ina J. Hughes (an American school teacher) and adapted by James Steyer. This poem was included in the book, “Turning to One Another- Simple Conversations to Restore Hope to the Future”, 2002, complied by Margaret J. Wheatley. This is a really great book that can be found at
www.whatthebook.com should anyone feel so inclined.
We pray for children
who sneak popsicles before supper,
who erase holes in math workbooks,
who throw tantrums in the grocery store and pick at their food,
who like ghost stories,
who can never find their shoes.
And we pray for those
who stare at photographers from behind barbed wire,
who can’t bound down the street in a new pair of sneakers,
who are born in places we wouldn’t be caught dead in,
who never go to the circus,
who live in an X-rated world.
We pray for children
who sleep with the dog and bury the goldfish,
who bring us sticky kisses and fistfuls of dandelions,
who get visits from the tooth fairy,
who hug us in a hurry and forget their lunch money.
And we pray for those
who never get dessert,
who have no safe blanket to drag behind them.
who watch their parents watch them die
who can’t find any bread to steal,
who don’t have rooms to clean up,
whose pictures aren’t on anybody’s dresser,
whose monsters are real.
We pray for children
who spend all their allowance before Tuesday,
who shove dirty clothes under the bed, and never rinse out the tub,
who don’t like to be kissed in front of the car-pool,
who squire in church or temple and scream in the phone,
whose tears we sometimes laugh at and
whose smiles can make us cry.
And we pray for those
whose nightmares come in the daytime,
who will eat anything,
who have never seen a dentist,
who aren’t spoiled by anyone,
who go to bed hungry and cry themselves to sleep,
who live and move, but have no being.
We pray for children who want to be carried
and for those who must,
for those we never give up on and
for those who don’t get a second chance,
for those we smother….
and who for those who will grab the hand of anybody kind
enough to offer it.
Teacher Discussion: 1. Have the teachers take turns reading out stanzas
2. Re-read silently briefly
3. Discuss any new/interesting language found in the poem (Popsicle, tantrums, X-rated etc).
4. Discuss how the poem may relate to teachers own experiences raising/teaching children. (Some interesting points were made particularly in relation to ‘safety blankets’, which some people in Korea think indicates that a child is not receiving enough love. One of my teachers told how she was chastised for her child wanting to carry one).
5. Discuss how the poem may relate to their own experiences of being children.
6. Discuss what a ‘spoilt’ child is. Do teachers think Korean children are generally more spoilt these days?
7.Discuss child abuse services available/unavailable in Korea
8. Discuss what teachers would do if they suspected that a child was being abused. (this point leads to some interesting discussions about whether teachers should or can 'interfere' if they suspect a child is being abused).
9. Discuss literary techniques found in the poem, particularly the importance of repetition.
10. Discuss how the word ‘pray’ affects the tone of the poem.
11. Discuss how the poem made the group feel, (I found that some of my teachers did not like this poem because it was too depressing).
12. If the teachers do not like the poem, ask them how they would change it to improve it in their opinion.
Interesting points Initially I found that some teachers were inclined to try and find symbolism in the ‘contrasting sad’ parts of the poem, rather than taking them literally, (literally, that there are children who exist in terrible situations all over the world). When teachers tended to talk about these situations as existing only ‘outside’ of Korea, it lead to a discussion about how devastated Korea was during the Korean War and how quickly things had changed since then. It also furthered the discussion into aspects of child abuse in Korea.
Possible activitiesMy teachers are a talkative group, but I think it would be interesting to have teachers write their own (either individually or as a group) ‘pray for children’ stanza. It would be interesting to see the differences between those that reflected their experiences as teachers and those as parents (if they are parents).
