Knife and Fork

Knife and Fork
Originally uploaded by victorpanlilio.

There's been a recent controversial news story about Luc, a 7-year old Filipino boy in Quebec, who was chastised for eating his meals in the school lunchroom with a (gasp!) spoon and fork. The school principal, Norman Bergeron, professed ignorance of any culture where it's the custom to eat this way. There's been an avalanche of email and online commentary heaping scorn and contempt on him, and I daresay he deserves every bit of it. In fact, this whole incident illustrates why schools can be toxic to children. On the other hand, Luc's parents should probably have taught their son how to also eat with a knife and fork, as my 6-year old son CJ does (he can also eat with a spoon and fork, or with his bare hands, but we're working on chopsticks). As the saying goes, when in Rome...