Play, Joy, Laughter, and Trust

During the two weeks before Thanksgiving last year, my homeroom ran a charity fundraising game called balloon stomp. In this game, two homeroom teams face off against each other. Each one has balloons tied to their ankles and the goal is to pop the balloons of the other team. My homeroom partner and I became obsessed with inflating, counting, and tying balloons to make this game happen.

In addition to getting the kids organized and acting as referee at the matches, I took pictures as the kids played. Since our homeroom period is only eleven minutes long, I found that I was so focused on getting the balloons distributed and getting the game started that I didn’t get a chance to see what was going on with the kids who were playing.

When I looked at my photos I was filled with one emotion that was so clear on all the kids’ faces: joy! Teenagers can be moody, secretive, and hard to read. However, in these photos, the smiles were so sincere and the expressions were wildly free. Kids are leaping, balancing, responding so naturally and innocently, that it reminds me of children’s play at recess. The joy jumps off the screen!

In my freshman theatre class, we played lots of games. At the end of the year, we have a unit on improvisation. The games are silly and quick. In this context, the joy on kids’ faces is accompanied by laughter. My theatre class was the very last period of the day. Kids were tired and had been sitting for hours. As they got up and participated, their pent up energy was tapped and a transformation took place. Although kids experienced the self-consciousness of performing, they also showed a freedom of expression that I only occasionally saw in my English classroom – or for that matter when kids were socializing in the cafeteria or library. Like my balloon stompers, they were free and joyful in a way that is childlike and open. It was wonderful to watch!

There is a reason we call it play! They were enthusiastic and expressive players, either when playing a theatre game or stomping balloons!

One assignment in Senior English is to give a graduation address. After studying a wide variety of commencement speeches, viewing some, and brainstorming our own ideas, my students wrote and delivered their own speeches. Last year, it was beautiful.

My students opened up to each other. They held each other gently and they supported each other. Some students waxed nostalgic about high school, others gave advice or told stories. Several students felt safe enough to take a more personal and dangerous choice: they shared private struggles and were candid with their classmates in a way that was raw and startling. To say I was proud of my speakers and listeners is an understatement.

They shared highly personal and difficult moments from high school. They candidly reflected on how their choices shaped them. They laughed together at embarrassing and painful moments that could only be funny in retrospect. They discussed humility, gratitude, mortality, mental health, and many other complex and sensitive topics and not only did they do it with aplomb and thoughtfulness, but they listened to each other with great respect – and joy.

Let’s celebrate and cultivate these joyful, powerful, and honest moments – in the classroom and everywhere else. Let’s honor our children’s need for play, laughter, and the freedom to vigorously express themselves. Let’s make more spaces for them to cast the self-conscious and premeditated curtain aside and simply be their more raw and exuberant selves.

We could all use more joy!