My son's surgery went well.  His recovery should be smooth, but a little confusing for him, given his age (seven months old)

When I walk into the hospital, it doesn't feel like a hospital.  The colors are bright and vivid.  Child-created artwork adorns the walls, and not in the cheezy, this-belongs-on-the-refrigerator way, but with full frames and tract lighting.  In certain rooms, the buzzing and beeping of machines are drowned out by child-friendly, soft music.  Mosaic tiles adorn the outdoor corridors. The entire atmosphere is one that is comforting and fun - or at least as comforting and fun as a hospital can be.  It is odd that a place of sickness can have a healthy atmosphere that seems to celebrate life.

I wish school were a little more like this.  There is a wealth of creativity and our school devotes the vast majority of the walls to Navajo White - which, given the dull, muddy-cream-yellow tone, might qualify the name as a hate crime against Native Americans. The walls are bleak and bare.  The ground is a dirty concrete, with stains of dried, bright pink bubble gum that has now turned black.

Instead of fun, our atmosphere seems geared toward order.  Rather than comfort, we choose conformity.  From the uniforms and the standardized walls to the data-driven curriculum and the standardized tests, the entire climate of the school is one of uniformity that borders on oppression. 

My first impulse is to point out that, in hospitals, the children are sick.  They "need" an atmosphere that is fun, friendly, comforting and reassuring.  Yet, why can't school be that same way?  Realistically, many students come from tragic lives, where they have seen and experienced sickness that is just as bad as anything in a hospital.  So, why can't schools change the climate to something that is more like a children's hospital?

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