I would rather teach my son using parables

Yesterday, I said I would wake up with a smile. I was wrong.

My son is nine years old. He is around the same age I was when the Tienanmen Square protest was broadcast on the morning news. My mother allowed us to stay home from school to watch the newscast because she thought it was important for us to see. I believe she said, "You will learn more watching this than going to school today." She was right. That was the day my intellectual mind first grappled with the concept of justice.

Growing, we are taught some basics; share, don't push, no name calling, etc. and those are appropriate things for small children. As a child matures and becomes more aware of the world around them you have a choice as a parent to keep silent or guard them from the truth of issues of famine, poverty, social injustice, drugs, sex, and death or to talk to them about these things.

I didn't set out to engage my son in the topic of Troy Davis's story. Indeed, I wasn't sure he would understand. Based on some of his questions (ie: Can't we just get some bolt cutters?) he is still a very nine year old child. But, he saw a cardboard sign on the table that I had attempted to attach to my bicycle and asked about it. So, we told him. We explained that we didn't know Troy Davis. We don't know if he was a good man or an honest man but, that he was found guilty of a crime based on wrongful testimony and that 7 of the original 9 witnesses had changed their stories since his trial and that it seems there was much more evidence besides that he may actually be completely innocent. And that in the state of Georgia, they had something called Capital Punishment which meant the government kills people - as part of the system of law. And Troy Davis was on Death Row - about to be killed for a crime he may not have committed.

After hearing this my son paced the floor for an hour. He would occasionally interrupt while I was reading with his younger sibling with questions and eventually he made a statement. "Listen, I think it doesn't matter if he was a good man or a bad man - it is wrong to kill him. I think I should fly to Georgia and talk to those government people and tell them that I have figured this out and that they should not kill him." I explained that many people were working very hard to keep Troy Davis alive and that if I knew of something else to do - we would do it. I explained that I had signed some petitions online and maybe he would like to do that too. He did. And he said, when he went to bed, "I hope they give him the stay and I hope they change their mind."

"Me too my darling."

Then Georgia killed Troy Davis.

And my son woke up to learn that sometimes the bad guys win. Sometimes we are powerless against a broken system and that he did all that a nine year old could do to save Troy Davis. I believe the bittersweet ending to this tale is that my son became an activist against injustice this week. He will grow into a compassionate adult who will do what he can to help build the world into a safe and peaceful one. But, Troy Davis should have lived. And my son could have learned that justice can prevail. He could have learned that. But, he didn't. Instead, he lay across my lap with tears in his eyes. And he asked, "What did Troy Davis do for a living?"