Training an Octopus to Chase Chickens

I was asked to give a training last week for elementary teachers on the topics of counseling and positive behavioral support (or in simple terms… why teachers should not use physical or corporal punishment in schools). I listened to their experiences and concerns with students in their classes. Based on their stories I realized the emotional, psychological or socio-cultural needs of children are not addressed in detail during teacher trainings, therefore, I had to start from the beginning. What can teachers do to prevent or deal with children’s emotional problems? One way is to think logically about how one would deal with any illness. I asked them to consider how they would prevent or deal with a child who was sick with malaria. You would try to remove the cause (sleep under a mosquito net, burn mosquito coils). But if it’s too late, you try to treat the illness (giving medicine). You wouldn’t tell a child who is sick with malaria to stop shivering. That would be silly. Shivering is a symptom of the disease and one has no control over it. In this respect, emotional illness and physical illness are much alike. Children may not understand their emotions or how to express them. What is important is to look for the signs children show when they are distressed which varies by culture, then to ask why are they behaving this way. Once you know the reason, you can begin to remove the cause or provide treatment. This lead to interesting conversations about the use of physical punishment in the context of PNG culture. We agreed all children across the world need to feel safe, loved and worthy. We shared our ideas on rewards, positive attention and praise. In the end, I hope I was able to share my perspective of positive behavioral support and provide them something to consider when helping children with emotional or behavioral needs at school.

I saw my first live octopus Friday. While I was enjoying the view from my veranda, a man holding a spear jumped out of the sea. I am always amazed by the PNG culture unfolding before my eyes. Always wanting to soak it all in, I ran down to see what he had found during his dive. Bob had speared nearly 10 octopuses! He had been in the sea all day, over 6 hours hunting. His hands and feet were all wrinkled and his body was shivering. So while he lay on the warm coral at the edge of the sea, I explored his catch of the day. The octopuses were slimy but strong and tough. At first I was reluctant to touch them, but I gave in to my curiosity and tested the suction of their tentacles. I couldn’t keep my hands off them. I ended up buying three for 20 kina ($6). Bob said he would sell the rest within the hour; they are in high demand with the Chinese nickel mine workers. He recommended I wrap them in papaya leaves for them to be good and tender. I have not ever tasted octopus so I will take advantage of my Catalonian friend Albert’s eagerness to make sushi!

It was hilarious watching Lilly chase the chickens back into the fence this morning. Lilly is small for a 7 year old but she knows how to round up some chickens! They were scared out of their minds, flying into the chain-linked fence, flapping their wings. She just kept going at them with a stick that was twice her size. Poor chickens!

Did you really think I could train an octopus to chase chickens? It got your attention though didn’t it!?!