Justice is:
"Standing up for someone else."
"When we're at peace with one another."
"When everyone has the same rights."
"Equality."
"Fairness."
"Sharing."
"Treat others the way you want to be treated."
"Friends."
"When we work together."
"Teamwork."
"Being nice to bullies."
Forgiveness is:
"Very important. I will write a note to the person who abused me saying I forgive him."
Their most favorite thing in the world:
"Football."
"Books."
"Instruments."
"The family that adopted me."
"Friends."
"Sports."
"Math."
Sharing--even with people who are mean--
"Is important because if you're not nice then the person will still be mean, and if the mean person has something another day he might not share."
On Inequality:
"It's not fair."
"When poor people have no money, they end up having to go to People's City Mission."
"It's harder for the poor because the rich get richer and the poor is hard for them to not be."
On Self-Image:
"Hey! You're the pretty girl!" Made all the "grown-ups" smile.
"It's easy, because you're skinny!" The surprised look on the skinny girl's face told me she didn't think of herself as skinny very often. Maybe we should all talk to kids more often.
"You're the funny one!" I've always thought of myself a bit on the corny side rather than funny, but maybe I should think again.
On Life:
"I told the other group about my past." (In 4th grade . . .) "I told them about how I've been adopted three times: once by a Native American family, then by a family that didn't give me my meds, and now by this family who loves me."
Kid: "My name is Atticus."
Me: "Oh, Atticus Finch!"
Kid: "That's who I was named after."
I don't like teaching little kids much, I'm not smart enough to explain things in a simple way. Today, though, it was just fine because they were the ones taking me to school, teaching me lessons in the simplest of language.
