“All children, except one, grow up,’ says Sir James Barrie in 1904 in his magical play, “Peter Pan or The Boy Who Wouldn’t Grow Up.”
For 100 years, Peter Pan, Tinker Bell, Captain Hook and all the other wonderful characters created by J.M. Barrie have delighted children and the young at heart, yet the philanthropic legacy of the story is relatively unknown: before his death, he gave the Peter Pan story rights and royalties to the Great Ormond Street Hospital for Children in London. With every performance or film or book published, GOSH is entitled to a royalty fee. Thanks to the enduring popularity of Peter, Wendy and Tinker Bell, Captain Hook and the ticking crocodile, this hospital continues to benefit from the Peter Pan endowment.
In 1992, the children at the Ormond Street Hospital inspired Julia Hart to give up her birthday presents during the premier of her father’s Peter Pan sequel, “Hook.” This single gesture brought “The Peter Pan Gift” to America and so began the Peter Pan Children’s Fund. The Peter Pan Children’s Fund encouraged and supported “Get Hooked on Peter Pan” a curriculum design for elementary and middle school students. This unique education program offered meaningful learning activities to promote awareness of the charitable legacy.
Character education adds another dimension to the study of Peter Pan and other classic fairy tales. Since the story’s characters engage in a classic battle of good versus evil on a very elementary level, the theme of virtues and vices is a natural outcome. It is critical for teachers to understand the value of using literature to address the importance of character education.
The word philanthropist generally refers to an individual who has the desire to improve the welfare of humanity through monetary donations or volunteer service. Children often become involved in philanthropy as a result of a school fundraising activity or parental involvement. A child who has been exposed to charitable giving at a young age will be more likely to expand his or her acts of generosity as an adult. Giving becomes as important as making money.
It is widely-accepted that generous behavior helps develop moral judgment and a better understanding of civic responsibility. Fundraising for a cause can give a child a sense of empowerment to bring about change. Both community service and service learning give students and their teachers an opportunity to make a difference in their own communities.
Because of the nature of fairy tale characters, they are the perfect vehicle to begin the discussion of character education. An individual can discuss a character in “once upon a time” time and be perfectly safe or he/she can own the character and identify with it personally. Characters in a fairy tale are easily recognized because of their behavior -for example, the hero is transformed through the trials and tribulations necessary in the archetypal struggle between good and evil. Seeing classic characters in this light empowers the student to become the hero of their own journey.