As the Hopewell Valley News has done in the past, we offer the holiday wishes from Hopewell youngsters. These come from students in Susanne D’Amore’s second- grade class at Hopewell Elementary School.
We cannot help but note a dominant theme that is simultaneously disheartening and hopeful. Disheartening because kids at such a young age are so influenced by what they see and hear happening around them, as they see on the news. Yet hopeful, because the students recognize injustices and yearn to correct or avoid them.
Ms. D’Amore tells us the instruction was to write a wish for the world to be a better place. There was no teacher prompting and no classroom lesson preceded the writing assignment. The “teacher model” was that all people, all over the world, have a warm, safe place to celebrate the holidays, she said.
She, too, was surprised to see the preponderance of one theme. “I never got that one before,” she said. She said she consciously steers clear of being political or religious.
“Our students are very worldly,” she said. Students experience frequent school lockdown drills and other preparedness activities, she said. They see the TV news, play video games and hear adults talk.
She said she asked one student where she heard the word “terrorist.” The answer was, “On the news.”
Ms. D’Amore said she has given this assignment about seven times. Years ago, the wishes were for things like a warm house, she said, when kids were influenced by drives to help area charities, she said.
As we share the letters, we think adults should take notice.
“Christmas I have a really good wish for the world. I wish that people would stop fighting and families would get together and have a great Christmas. I saw ISIS fighting for no good reason on the news. It didn’t make sense at all. I think if my wish comes true, the world will be a great place. Happy holidays!” — Jake B.
“Christmas I have a special wish that everybody has time to be with their families. I wish this because people in the armed forces can’t be with their family. The world would be a better place if my wish really does come true because everyone will be together, safe and happy. Happy holidays! — C.J.V.
“This Christmas and New Year’s I have a special wish for the world. I wish that people will stop fighting so that others can spend time with their family. I wish that there were no such thing as terrorists because they fight. If my wish comes true, there would probably be no fighting in the world. Happy holidays for all! — Leo R.
“I wish this Christmas everybody would stop fighting and have a happy life. I hope animals have shelters to live in. Happy holidays and Merry Christmas.” — Grace K.
“This Christmas I have a good wish for the world. It is that I want all people all to have a warm place for a home. I want that because it made me sad because when I was in Puerto Rico I saw three dogs and one man and they were homeless and it was sad. The world will be a better place if my wish comes true. Have a happy holiday!” — Aidan B.
“This Christmas I want for everyone to stop hurting people for no reason and to live a happy life. If my wish comes true, I think it will be a better place. Have a happy holiday.” — Baylie S.G.
“This Christmas I have a wonderful wish for the world. I wish that everyone just is kind and does not hurt others because once they are hurt they can be gone forever. I wish this because on the news I heard that a man did a really bad thing to his wife and baby. The world will be a wonderful and better place if my wish comes true because people will be fine. I hope everyone has a wonderful holiday.” — Delainey R.
“This Christmas I have a wish that everybody in the world will work together and do not hurt each other. People have been killing people and kidnapping people. If my wish comes true, everybody’s life will be awesome. Happy holidays!” — Roman S.
“This Christmas, my wish is that all people have the best Christmas ever! Have a happy holiday!” — Chelsea C.
“This Christmas I have a special wish. I wish that people don’t want to hurt people. I wish this because many people are hurting people and it’s happening a lot because I saw it on the news at home. The world might be a better place if my wish comes true. Then everyone will stop getting hurt. Have a happy and fun holiday.” — Lily D.
“This Christmas and New Year’s I have a special wish for the world. I wish that people will not harm animals. It’s nice that in some place, elephants are not harmed. They use pepper to keep them away from the crops. They don’t hurt them. Happy holidays and be nice to animals.” — Asher F.
“This Christmas and New Year’s I have a wish for the world. I want people to be happy on holidays because if I’m happy on holidays they should be, too. I hope everyone enjoys the lovely holidays.” — Alex G.
“This Christmas and New Year’s I have a wish for the world. I wish everyone stays safe and there’s no harming for no reason. I heard it on the TV that people were hurting a lot. The world will be a better place if my wish comes to life. If it does, everyone will be safe. Enjoy the holiday!” — Tessa G.
“This Christmas I have a special wish for the world. I wish that people will stop killing animals and people. I wish that because see on the news people and animals are being hurt. It is really sad. The world will be a better place if my wish comes true because we will all be happy and be warm inside and alive and animals will have homes. Happy holidays!” — Kirthi S.
“Tomorrow I want a very special wish to be granted. I wish everyone would have a warm place to live and warm clothes. They should also have hats, gloves, snow pants, coats, ice skates and boots for the winter. I also wish everyone would not harm each other and leave people the way they are. Instead I want them to be kind and help each other. Everyone is innocent no matter what. Animals, too, must be treated fairly. They should have everything. I want that wish because a lot of people have not been treated fairly and they got harmed for no reason. Everyone should be treated fairly. That’s how the world can be a better place. I hope my wish comes true. I want everyone to have enough things to survive. And most of all, I want everyone to be loved. I hope everyone has a wonderful holiday and a lot of fun!” — Alexandra R.
“This Christmas I want everyone to stop killing for no reason so they can live a happy life. If my wish comes true, it will be a better place. Happy holidays.” — Jackson S.
“This Christmas I have a great wish for the world. I wish that everyone was nice and happy because if people were not nice or happy, nobody would have a friend. Have a great holiday!” — Paige R.
“This Christmas I have a very special wish for the world. I wish that people would stop shooting for no reason. I wish this because many people are shooting other people on the news. The world will be a better place if my wish comes true because everyone will get to spend time together! Have a very happy holiday.” — Colin R.
“This Christmas I have a special wish for the world. I wish that everyone stopped fighting and stopped being mean to each other. Instead I want people to be kind and share and be helpful. I wish this because many people are not with their families. People can feel very alone anyone and by themselves. I think the world will be a better place if my wish comes true because everyone will be safe and happy. I hope you all have a wonderful holiday.” — Anu C.
“I have a wish for the world. I do not like guns. Guns are dangerous. I want to have no more guns in this world. It would be nice if everyone would get rid of their guns. Without guns the world would be a better place so there would not be mistakes and people would not be injured. I hope everybody has a wonderful holiday!” — Theodora M.
