Tuesday, March 14, 2006

The Wonder Years (Part II) – Sensitivity and its Implications

by Benji Raymond




During my younger years I was always under the impression that perfection was not only attainable but desirable and instrumental to one progressing in this world. This no doubt proved to be a struggle for an acutely sensitive child who would hear and see things that would occur 2 kilometers away. At some stage perfectionism seemed so important that when I was certain that I could not produce 100% exam results, I would not sit them.

I often wondered why my anxiety would shoot through the roof in a class setting at university. It only occurred to me, albeit in my fifth year of studies, that aggressively insensitive teachers in early education years (I had my fair share of them) can curve, shape and sculpt an individual’s life. The role of a sensitive, caring and loving teacher is equally, if not more important in the same sense. Only recently have I realized that the role of a teacher in primary or high school is so incredibly significant that not even the teacher themselves can realize the role they play in a child’s life. I often mention to my sister that as a child-care worker she plays an instrumental role in that child’s life, whether or not they recall her as their carer in five or ten years.

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The Wonder Years - Introduction
A Woman of Virtue - To Mum
The Wonder Years (Part 1) My Earliest Memory
The Wonder Years (Part 2) Sensitivity and its Implications
The Wonder Years (Part 3) Dad
The Wonder Years (Part 4) The Sun, The Moon & Disappointment
The Wonder Years (Part 8) Chocolate Milk & The Cool Sea Breeze
The Wonder Years (Part 15) - Race, Memory and Innocence
The Wonder Years (Part 16) In Between Two Worlds

A Long December - Poetry

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