Mission Moment: Our Kids Aren't Crabs

A casual visitor remarked about the kids we work with. "Like crabs in a pot" he said. Asking for clarification, he said, "When you put live crabs in a pot and one tries to crawl out the others will pull it back."

"What does that have to do with our kids?"

"You spend all this time trying to get them to change and they won't. They'll just pull each other back down. Really, I think you are just waisting your time. They'll never change."

I wasn't sure whether to be angry at him or to feel sorry for him.

It is true that people in a community are a lot like one body. The culture of a community often dictates how people act and think. And, just like the crabs, if you throw fear and change into the "pot" it makes for some really bad decisions.

But our kids aren't crabs. They are kids. And they are not in a pot. They are in safe and wonderful place. Sure, they have trouble adjusting sometimes. Sure, they bring a lot of emotional stuff with them. And sure, even though where they are is positive, they may still fight it.

But they don't pull one another down. If anything, they build one another up. When we see kids who last year were angry and combative who are now making friends and helping other kids, when we see kids take great pride in reading a book or creating something from scraps of cloth, or working together to make a quilt, or writing and performing poetry, well we know that they are changing. They are building.

And we’ll keep on building these kids up. Sometimes failing, but keep trying to help these kids and their parents know that this Y belongs to them, not to us. That it is okay to love, to have nice things, to create, to learn. And that they deserve them.

After all they are kids. Smart, wonderful, beautiful kids. And not a crab in the bunch!