Whilst supervising on a school tour today with a number of 11/12 year olds I happened to overhear a number of interesting conversations ( myself and the other two supervisors were NOT eavesdropping!). It was so funny to hear an 11 year old boy and his friends talking about watching scary movies and how ‘they’re not scary now that we’re grown up’! I’m still scared of scary movies so  I guess I’m not grown up yet!
Then there was the episode with the ‘Toxic Waste’. A young boy had a packet of toxic waste sweets on way to our destination. He asked myself and my two companions if we’d like one. We all refused but the one male supervisor was goaded into taking one! When he refused a number of times the kids told him that ‘in 50 years times you’ll regret not trying it’! Â These children are old beyond their young years! The said man, like ourselves is hoping to maybe still be around in 50 years time. So being the man he is, the toxic waste sweet was taken. The bitter/sour taste set in quite quickly and the laughter among the kids (and ourselves) couldn’t be avoided! He said that he now understood why they were called ‘toxic waste’!
Don’t ever underestimate the power and intuition of young children. We may think we are always one step ahead but they are always two steps in front!