The Jungle Gym

Returning to the playground this September after a 20-year hiatus, I got a chance to watch the lives of children through the bars of the jungle gym. I have lunch and recess duty with the 1st and 2nd graders one day a week. This playground duty gives me an opportunity to meet students who do not fall into my basic job as part-time 10th grade English teacher and assistant teacher for students with learning differences.

Jungle gym. The name is so fitting: a gymnasium where humans get to access their more primate instincts. Or at least, young humans get to. The kids who play on jungle gyms are always creating--games, stories, excuses--to harmonize with their actions. Physical movement for these students is fun but frustrating; the motor skills of young children are not sufficiently developed for graceful movement. But who needs graceful movement on a jungle gym?

Playground monitors are asked to wear any number of hats--shuttle diplomat, shoe-tier, and home base, to name but a few. In exchange for this service, we get an unfiltered view of the inner workings of the young. Aggression and arbitration, distress and reconciliation--a range of human emotions is on display. I can almost see the roles these children will one day play when they negotiate proposals--either in business or their personal relationships--rather than a...