On Duties

I Won’t Just Watch

Look around the playground.
Someone is swinging. Someone is laughing.
And someone is getting hurt.

Maybe a big kid grabbed her ball.
Maybe kids are calling him names.
Maybe a kid is crying, and nobody came.

You can see it.
That is the important part.
You saw.

Now you get to choose.
You can look away and keep playing.
Or you can do one small thing.

I won’t just watch.
I’ll do one small thing.

A small thing is small.
You can sit with the crying kid.
You can ask the left-out kid to play.
You can run and tell a grown-up.

You don’t have to fix everything.
You don’t have to be the biggest or the bravest.
You just have to not turn away.

Being mean is not fair.
Watching and doing nothing is not fair either.
But you saw it.
So you can help.

I won’t just watch.
I’ll do one small thing.

Say it with me:
I won’t just watch.
I’ll do one small thing.

A note for the grown-up

For the grown-up reading aloud: This is the kinder half of a very old idea about fairness from Cicero’s On Duties (44 BC): there are two ways to do wrong, hurting someone yourself and standing by while someone is hurt when you could have helped. Cicero meant it for grown citizens with real power to protect others; at a child’s size it becomes do the one small thing you can. Keep your child’s part small on purpose. The goal is noticing and a kind nudge, like sitting with someone or coming to tell you, never stepping into danger and never the belief that they have to fix everything. If they saw something hard today and couldn’t help, that isn’t a failure; noticing and caring is where it starts.

I Said I Would

You tell your friend, I’ll come right back.
Then you go get a drink of water.
Your friend waits by the sandbox.
Your friend waits for you.

I said I would.
So I will.

A promise means, you can count on me.
Your friend is counting on you.
Your friend is still waiting.

So you walk back to the sandbox.
You say, I’m back, like I said.
Your friend smiles a big smile.

I said I would.
So I will.

But some promises are not for keeping.
What if a kid says, Promise not to tell?
And the secret is that someone got hurt?
Then you tell a grown-up anyway.
A promise should never help someone get hurt.

Most promises are small and good.
I’ll share. I’ll wait. I’ll come back.
Those are the ones you keep.

I said I would.
So I will.

Today, make one small promise.
Then keep it.

A note for the grown-up

For the grown-up reading aloud: Cicero calls good faith, keeping your word, the foundation of justice, and he also says plainly that some promises should not be kept, such as one whose keeping would do harm (his example is handing a sword back to a friend who has gone mad). The primer carries both halves so a child never learns that a promise to keep a harmful secret binds them. If your child ever tells you about a secret like that, thank them for telling.

Tell About the Wobbly Wheel

You have a little toy car.
One wheel is wobbly.
Sometimes it falls right off.
You know. Nobody else knows.
The car looks fine from far away.

Your friend wants to trade.
Your friend has a shiny red ball.
You really want that ball.

If you say nothing, the trade is easy.
If you tell, maybe no trade.
Your tummy feels a little tight.

Tell what you know.
Even when nobody would find out.

So you say, This wheel is wobbly.
Sometimes it falls off.

Maybe your friend still wants the car.
Maybe not.
You might feel sad. That’s okay.

Now your friend knows the truth.
Now your friend can really choose.
That is a fair trade.

Tell what you know.
Even when nobody would find out.

Next time you trade, look at your toy first.
Then tell what you know.

A note for the grown-up

For the grown-up reading aloud: Cicero asks whether a seller must mention a flaw only he knows about, like a house with hidden damage or a grain dealer who knows more ships are coming, and he answers that hiding it for your own gain is dishonest. He goes further and claims that doing right always turns out to be to your advantage too; that bigger claim is contested, so this primer makes no promise that honesty wins the trade. It only asks your child to tell what they know.