Precious Silence

Susan Hill's essay, "Silence, Please"--on the need for children to have the gift of silence. Available here: http://www.standpointmag.co.uk/node/1201/full

And a nugget:

"Without an experience, preferably a regular one, of what it means to spend time in silence, we are impoverished and we communicate that impoverishment, and our slowly withering appreciation of the joys of quietness, to our children. Their nature, their very instinct, is to make a noise. The sound of a playground of primary school children or their chatter, like a flock of birds as a bevvy of them pass us by in the street, are among the most joyful in the world. Children want and need to move, to leap and jump, hop, skip and run. It is not in the nature of the child to yearn to sit still or keep silent. We must teach them how to do it and to be comfortable within and unafraid of silence, because those are human needs, as much as fruit, good meat, fish, milk, bread, love and tenderness, stories and songs. Silence nourishes an inner awareness and a deep though not uncritical contentment with self. In silence, we learn to feel happy in our own skins, we discover what our personal resources are for dealing with the problems, stresses and complexities of the world and how we can deepen and strengthen them."