Gossip and Glitter (Revisited)
Mary Nacey
Last year, I wrote this piece for a different blog. At the time I had both a 9th grade, experiencing the intrigue of high school gossip, and a preschooler, experiencing the wide spread joy of glitter distribution, and I was grappling with the challenge of spreading positivity. A year later, the world seems more stable, but the reminder is still true today.
Why does it seem like bad news spreads so much easier than good news? Sometimes it seems like the negative energy is hitting from every direction.
My leading theory is that everyone is feeling uncertain and discouraged lately, and as the old saying goes “misery loves company.” We spread the bad because it reminds us that we’re not the only ones feeling bad. It’s a temporary salve for a complicated injury. And it comes at a cost: as the bad news spreads, we all feel worse. Then we spread more, then we feel worse. The spreaders, the receivers, we all get caked in mud.
Speaking of cake, here’s a good thought: if my aforementioned theory holds up, maybe the reverse is true! Maybe if we take some time each day and deliberately spread some encouragement (and spread it generously, like Rainbow Chip Deluxe frosting on a Funfetti cake), then we’d all be smeared in good feelings.
There are tons of low or no cost ways to encourage teachers: a quick note on a scrap of paper, an email, a “Way to go!” message. Teachers are encouraged by things that show them they are valued: a picture from a student, a flower picked on the way to school, anything. They’ll save these treasures when they can…they may vary in size and style, but what they all have in common is that at a moment in time they made a teacher feel special and seen.
Teachers need it right now. We all need it right now. It won’t take much time, it won’t take much energy. At the start, it will take intentionality. We aren’t in the habit yet. But it is my firm belief that we can become a community that spreads encouragement as readily as a high schooler spreading gossip, as enthusiastically as a toddler spreading glitter.
(But to be clear, don’t actually cover a teacher in glitter.)
Originally written for Strong Schools Movement, March 2022