Listening to Children: A Moral Journey with Robert Coles

According to noted author/psychologist Robert Coles, nothing less than our citizenship is at stake if we fail to morally educate our children. Watching this outstanding documentary charting Coles' interaction with children in six American families of diverse racial and socio-economic backgrounds, it's hard not to agree. In the NYC projects, Robert, a black youth, has experienced more than his fair share of grief and uncertainty: his father left home when he was young, his uncle was gunned down, and the threat of drugs and violence permeates the ghetto neighborhood in which he lives. Coles encourages each of the children to draw a picture of his or her family: Robert draws his uncle in a coffin; himself tightly framed by the door to his house. In both pictures, a brown crayon is used to color in the faces. Yet, in another, more hopeful, picture of Robert soaring through the air and stuffing a basketball, his face is inexplicably white. Although the situation looks bleak for many of these children, Coles also notes the role of adversity in building character (which his father defined as "how you behave when no one is looking"). Scott, a well-off white youth, helps care for a retarded sister, and recently lost his uncle to AIDS. He knows grief and loss, but he also knows compassion and empathy. This gripping program concludes with a brief audience question and answer period which touches on the roles of the family, the school, and the media in the moral education of children. Uplifting and disturbing, hopeful and cautionary, Listening to Children is highly recommended. Editor's Choice. (R. Pitman)