The idea and concept of happiness is a building block of rich semantical value, which creates, at the same time, a discourse with a wide scope of cultural possibilities. All children understand the feeling of pain and the feeling of pleasure. All children could very well relate to the idea of life, not only because they are alive, but because they are capable of abstract thought, and because they could relay it, in a cultural twist, to the terrifying idea of the end of life. Death is a fascinating reality for all young people, and this fascination is embedded in the dialectics of pain and pleasure. One does not need to talk about Freud or Mercea Eliade to foresee the ramification of this exposition: Eros, Thanatos, myth are only some of the possible leads to a deeper exploration of the relationships between life and death, law and order, society and the individual.
Pursuing the dynamics of pain and pleasure, life and death, history and myth, the students in the fifth grade were very much entranced in the dynamics of happiness and were ready for further explorations through avid inquiries of these cultural and psychological instruments of thought. The way that they approached this complex cultural linkage was through simple language, common sense, a little bit of fear and amazement, and lots of yells and screams out of sheer shock and the excitement of discovery.. But the subtleties of happiness and all the enveloping language construct sooner or later were to lead us to the vexing questions of morality and the violation of cultural values and norms.
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This is the relevancy of presenting the student with the idea of happiness. Indirectly we built a platform from where we could explore the confines of morality and society. Clearly the law enters in this discussion as a mediator between the individual and society. This step was an intermediary thought between the idea of happiness and the loss of it; freedom and the loss of it. The violation of values could send the violator to jail, for example. For the student happiness was “what is normal.” They also related happiness with the following:
—”Happiness is the family, Mister.”
—”Happiness is life.”
—”Happiness is lots of money.”
A Mexican student, very philosophically said:
—”Happiness is to be alive.”
—”Happiness is my father and my mother.”
—”Happiness is when you’re happy.”
—”Happiness is when everything is good.”
—”Happiness is peace.”
—”Happiness is when there is no evil!”
The discussion in the classroom was led in a philosophical tone and within the framework of the students’ definitions of happiness. We turned the answers given by the students into a dialectical component. If happiness signifies good, then, what signifies bad? What could you tell me about something that is bad? Students gave us a myriad of answers, but the value of it all was the flexibility of the language. Answers demonstrated a display of free expression exhibiting penetration and an ability for critical thinking. They would postulate that the opposite of happiness was death. Then, they’d go on to argue that happiness was really an elusive subject. That it never really stays around for too long, and that many times we don’t even realize that we are happy.
With the introduction of the concept of happiness we have also introduced the possibility of establishing a dialectical framework for students to use in critical thinking: The value of the thesis and its antithesis. Language works in opposites and the ability of students to grasp a synthesis would increase their ability for a better understanding of our cultural realities: a thinking tool capable of elucidating the riddles of rights and responsibilities. People in general need to play games. We need to come across surprises that make us smile and look forward to the next step. Dialectics could very much partake of the form of games. Mathematics are very helpful for this.
The concept of happiness also opens up the way to questions of morality. Trough the elaboration of morality, with its polarities of good and evil, pain and pleasure, life and death, students could very well begin to discern relationships between the pain that they experience on a daily basis and the evil of it, the immorality of a pain that is caused, in many instances, by the braking of the norm. We must remember that many of the pains that students experience come from social and economic realities aforesaid. This realization leads the student in search of solutions and in search of their rights. Students don’t like pain, they enjoy pleasure, they love life. So, we ask again, what are the rights of children? The Constitution does not have a language directed to children per se. Not only the landscape, the milieu, is not in best interests of the children, but also the Constitution does not include their needs as human entities.
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Yet, the language of the law as it pertains to the best interests of the children is written in endless volumes filling stacks in libraries of the land. We talk about family law and about domestic relations. We speak eloquently about statutory law and common law and how judges make their pronouncements, but we know that children really have no rights. Now, to come to such realization is painful. And this is one way of immorality. If we want to end the pain we must act and change the painful situation.
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Activity:
Write a letter to your best friend and talk about happiness. - In many instances, breaking the law is a very unhappy action. Does this mean that in order to be happy one must not break the law? Spanking has been protected by the privacy of the home since time immemorial. And judges and courts are reluctant to interfere with what goes on inside the home.
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’ The law has protected spanking in the public schools.
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Are you happy to follow this rule? How would you change it?
Activity:
Give a speech declaring corporal punishment unconstitutional. Support it with evidence. Is there a precedent. Applying common law, argue against corporal punishment at home and at school. Remember the students in Seattle!
Assessment:
Keep a portfolio with cases that students have done work with. Include letters, drawings, acting and plays. Make a task management assessment list. Refer to lesson one for an example.
