Pablo - The Little Boy Who Didn't Know He Couldn't, Yet

When Pablo came into this world he had one biginto what the teachers said about Pablo.
advantage, which was that he hadn't yet learnedApparently he was not bright like they'd originally
that he couldn't do certain things. As the result hethought. After all, all parents think their own kids
tried doing all kinds of things and he discovered,are bright, but some of them have to be wrong,
much to his amusement, that some of the thingsright?
he tried he could do, while others he couldn'tPablo Even Began To Believe His Teachers
do...yet.Worst of all Pablo began to believe what the
For example, he discovered that if he wanted toteachers and his peers said about him. He began
do so, he could stretch his arms, his legs, histo feel angry and frustrated when he was in
fingers, and his toes out so they felt longer, or heschool...which by now, he absolutely hated. He
could pull them back in so they felt shorter. Hebegan getting in fights with other kids and giving
found that if he reached out and touched thingsteaches a hard time, so now he was also being
he could find out what they felt like, hard, soft,labeled a behavior problem too. Pablo finally
cool, warm, smooth, rough, etc. He also founddropped out of school without graduating, without
that if he could wrap his fingers and thumba high school diploma, and then he went looking
around an object that he could kind of control itfor work.
and bring it in closer. He could throw it on theHe applied for job after job, but found that the
floor, which is when he discovered that he couldmarket for young people who'd dropped out of
expect Mom and Dad to fetch and bring it backschool, and who were also considered behavior
to him...a couple of times anyway.problems, was pretty bad. And the jobs he was
He tried laying on his stomach, and rolling over tooffered paid so little that they guaranteed Pablo
his back. Mom sat him up and he found that to bewould stay on the bottom of the heap, no matter
an interesting experience. He watched Mom andhow hard he now tried.
Dad do the things that they could do and PabloLet's Go Over How All This Happened...
wondered if he could do them too?Now you can use your imagination and finish this
The most interesting thing they did was to standstory any way you'd like, but the main thing to
on their feet and legs, balance, and move aroundunderstand is that Pablo, like almost every other
wherever they wanted to go. Mom helped Pablokid who comes into this world, was born with a
to hang on to the high chair to help him to standgift of curiosity which he turned into knowledge of
up and that worked out pretty good. But whenmany amazing things. He knew he didn't know
he let go and tried to move across the room likethat he couldn't do something unless he tried it
Mom and Dad, Pablo fell right on his face. Dadand failed. Then he discovered that if he kept
picked him up, dusted Pablo off, and consoled him.trying, sooner or later he'd often succeed.
Mom And Dad Encouraged PabloSo Pablo explored his environment, watched Mom
But Mom and Dad kept encouraging Pablo to walk,and Dad, and he tried to do the things that he
the falls became easier, and one day severalsaw them doing. And this entire time Mom and
weeks after he began trying, he took his firstDad always encouraged and even expected him
four steps...and then he fell again. But four steps,to be able to learn and do all these wonderful
that was something to celebrate, at least his Momthings, if he persisted, which he usually did.
and Dad thought so. They kept encouraging himBut when he was enrolled in school with a teacher
and Pablo kept walking and doing all kinds of newand with other kids, they taught him that if he
things all the time. Mom and Dad thought Pablotried and failed, that they'd make fun of him, and
must be a very bright boy. And one of the otherthink less of him. And in the long run, they
things Pablo learned was that if you keep tryingconvinced Pablo that he couldn't do much of
to do the thing you want to do, the odds of doinganything, and that it was no longer worth trying.
it become better and better until you succeed.Pablo learned to hate school, his peers, and
In fact during his first four years of life, Pabloeventually to hate himself, all because he was
tried and learned to do all kinds of things allsystematically taught that he couldn't do things,
because he didn't yet know that he couldn't doand for whatever reason, he and his parents
them. And if he didn't know that he couldn't, thenthought the school system knew what it
maybe he could. Not only that, but the only wayprofessed to know. After all, these people have
Pablo could find out whether he could or couldn'tcollege degrees and they are smart, right? But
do something, was to try it. That way he knewonce Pablo himself bought into their suggestion
for sure. In other words, if he didn't trythat he couldn't...his fate was sealed.
something, he'd never find out what he could doThe First Really Good Question
and what he couldn't do. It was about that simple.Now, the first real question at this point is...who's
And Pablo wanted to know. For all these reasonsto blame? How would you answer this
Mom and Dad always thought that Pablo must becontroversial question?o Is it the overworked and
a very bright young boy.underpaid teacher who's given the task of sorting
Then Pablo Turned Five And Went Toout the strengths and weaknesses of 25 to 30
Kindergartenkids each year in order to begin the selection and
Then when he turned five years old, Mom andlabeling process that we now call "education" in the
Dad enrolled Pablo in kindergarten along with lots21st century?o Is it the school administrators who
of other five year olds, and instead of comparingare hired to oversee and operate the system?o
what he could do yesterday to what he could doIs it local school board members who are elected
today or tomorrow, the teacher taught Pablo toto oversee and direct the administrators, and the
compare himself to the other kids in class. Theschool system?o Is it the country, state, and
teacher was very good at this kind of thing andfederal educational administrators who concern
she saw all kinds of things like some kids were tallthemselves with marketing unfunded mandates
and some were short, some had blonde hair andlike No Child Left Behind.o Or is it Pablo's parents
some had brunette hair, some were skinny andwho presumed that the people who made up the
some were stocky, some were fast runners andsystem knew what they were doing when it
some were slow runners. And most importantlycame to educating Pablo?o Or Pablo himself who
to the teacher, there were some kids who wereshould have been strongero His peers who should
smart, some who were average, and some whohave been more compassionate and
were below average and she placed them all inunderstandingo Or do each one of these parts
groups that reflected this assessment of them.kind of go along with, and feed on the others
Pablo Was Labeled Averagewhile under the hypnotic presumption that
As it turned out the teacher put Pablo in thequestioning the system that's served this nation
middle group, but he had no idea why. Anyway hewell so for over 200 years, is a sign of
learned this new way of looking at himself fromdisrespect, disloyalty, is unpatriotic, and cannot be
the teacher. Then he found out that when hetolerated?o And if you choose this last one, then
tried stuff because he didn't know that hewho's in charge of evaluating the bloody system
couldn't, the way he'd always done, some of theand what it's producing?
kids would laugh and make fun of him if he failedThe Second Really Good Question
to do what he was trying to do. They thoughtThe second real question is, what can we do
less of him when he tried and failed, and theabout this problem? What would you tell Pablo, his
teacher seemed to think less of him too.peers, his parents, his teachers, his school
From this experience Pablo learned that it wasadministrators, the school board who oversees
embarrassing and painful to fail in front of thethe system? I know what I'd tell them. I'd say it's
other kids and he never knew that before. Butthe expressed goal of this school system to
once he learned that lesson, he decided to avoidteach Pablo and all his peers that the only way to
trying when other people were around and infind out if you can or you can't do something is
doing so, Pablo would avoid having the other kidsto try doing it. And just because you can't do it
make fun of him, laugh at him, and make himtoday doesn't mean that you'll be unable to do it
think less and less of himself.tomorrow...so long as you keep on trying. No,
Pablo Learns To Stop Tryingthere really is no substitute for persistence.
By the time his kindergarten year was over,I would say that in order to succeed the system
Pablo had switched gears when it came to tryingmust convince Pablo and his peers that there is
new things. Prior to kindergarten, as you will recall,absolutely nothing wrong with failing to perform,
Pablo didn't know that he couldn't, so he would tryand there is everything wrong with failing to try.
it and find out whether he could or not. And backAfter all, in the big picture, human life is all about
then when he failed nobody made fun of him, hisexploring and testing our limits from day to day,
Mom and Dad encouraged him to keep trying, andplotting and planning how to push those limits back
so he'd persist until he learned how to walk, howover weeks, months, and years.
to talk, and how to do all kinds of very difficultWinning And Losing In Education
things, because he just kept going until he finallyTo the degree we achieve that goal, the system
learned to do what he wanted to learn to do.and everyone in it wins. To the degree we fail,
But once in school Pablo learned that failing ineveryone loses. As the old saying goes, a chain is
front of the teacher and the other kids wasonly as strong as its weakest link. So the job of
embarrassing, painful, and that the simple solutioneducational systems around the country is to do
was to stop trying in front of them. At least theneverything possible to produce strong links who
he had an excuse. After all...he wasn't trying, right?know that if they only keep their eyes open,
And when he stopped trying, he could no longerthink for themselves, and relentlessly persist,
find out if he could or he couldn't do things. But atpersist, and persist, they can probably learn to do
least he wasn't embarrassed, at least the otherwhatever they really need to do in life.
kids weren't laughing at him and making him feelIt's the job of school systems to strengthen each
bad about himself, because they wouldn't know ifand every one of those links, every day, every
he could or couldn't because he refused to try.week, every month, and every year, and to
Pablo Learns To Shoot Himself In The Footmake sure Pablo knows that if he keeps on
Now the problem that developed over time wastrying, there's very little that he can't accomplish.
the more that Pablo refused to try, the less heOn the other hand, Pablo needs to know that if
learned about what he could and could not do.and when you ever give up on yourself and stop
And the less he learned, the more his teacherstrying, you are limiting yourself, you are shooting
and his peers just presumed that he couldn't learnyourself in the foot, and you are dooming
to do new things, otherwise he would. Nobodyyourself to future failure after failure. For me this
wants to be labeled a dummy.is the biggest lesson any child can learn during
By the time he'd reached junior high school Pablotheir formative years, and teaching kids to really
was no longer in the middle group, he had beenbelieve, down deep in their gut, that they can do
labeled a slow learner, and a low performer. Evenit as long as they persist...is what education in the
Mom and Dad threw their hands up and boughtbest sense, is all about.