Different people have different opinions about the definition of "fairness". Even children with little life experience will inevitably encounter distribution problems in group cooperation, which will generate questions and thoughts about "what is fairness".
The picture book "Is This Fair" uses witty and interesting text, full of childlike pictures, and accurately restores this daily confusion of children.
The pears are ripe.
Rabbits and bears especially want to eat, but they can't reach it and can't pick it off. The rabbit offered to stand on a chair and pick pears, but when the chair was assigned, there was an argument.
Two rabbits, one bear, the bear felt unfair.
Then both of them will take one each, and it seems fair. However, the bear can pick pears by stepping on a chair, and the rabbit can't pick pears when he steps on a chair, and the rabbit feels unfair.
Beetles appear. The beetle thinks that the rabbit needs two chairs to reach the pears, and the big bear needs one, so it should be divided into two rabbits, one big bear, and everyone can eat the pear, so it is fair.
The bear and the rabbit suddenly realized that this was still unfair—because the beetle had no chairs and no pears.
"I don't like to eat pears, thank you."
"So what do you like to eat?"
Ha ha!
In the story, the hare and the bear put forward a philosophical proposition that inspires everyone to think about through the small matter of "picking pears" - "what is fairness".
Maybe some adults will think that they are making a big fuss, fighting for a chair and a pear. However, it is precisely in these small things that adults are accustomed to, children can be keenly aware of the unusual, and they can begin to understand and deeply explore the essence of things. Ostensibly, the hare and the bear argue over chairs and pears, but in reality they are talking about "how to allocate resources is fair and reasonable."
Big Bear's "Is it so fair?" is essentially a discussion of process fairness in the principle of distribution. In real life, when encountering similar scenes, such as when the teacher assigns handmade materials, the children will ask: "Why send scissors to him first, and then send them to me?" "Why are his scissors different in color from mine?"
Children's concern for these subtleties shows that their sense of self is budding, and it also shows that they are observing and thinking about the distribution problem and trying to find answers.
The hare's question, "Is this fair," essentially discusses the fairness of outcomes in the principle of distribution: how the benefits obtained by each individual in group activities are justified. The result fairness may be material or spiritual, for example, children will compare the number of chicken legs in the bowl at lunch, and they will also care about how many small red flowers are awarded when the teacher praises. When confronted with an unreasonable distribution of outcomes, they may not yet be able to articulate their objections, but will ask themselves the question "Is this fair?"
At the end of the story, Beetle points out that "it is not always fair to give everyone the same thing", in fact, proposing another way of thinking about it - in the principle of distribution, in addition to considering the average, we must also consider the differences of individuals. After being reminded by the beetles, hares and bears realize that fairness does not refer to absolute strict equality, but to proportional distribution, allowing individuals to get the maximum benefit on the basis of not harming others.
In real life, the principle of assigning chicken legs to kindergarten lunches is: first give each child a chicken leg, after eating their own lunch, children with a large appetite who have not yet eaten enough can apply for another chicken leg. Children have no objection to this distribution principle and feel that it is very fair. Because it takes into account both the average and the differences in individual needs.
After reading this book, parents may be able to give more understanding and respect to these small questions in children's daily lives, and can patiently lead them to explore more.
For example, we can discuss with children: the hare thought of using a chair to increase the height to reach the pear, so should it be fair to let the hare get more pears according to the principle of more work and more gain? Big bears eat more than hares, is it fair that big bears should get more pears than hares?
You can also contact another traditional story about pears, "Kong Rong Rang Pear", and discuss with the children: in addition to considering the quality of brotherhood and humility, if only from the perspective of fairness, how to distribute pears? Is it in accordance with the principle of the size of the food, eat the large pear with a large amount, and eat the small pear with a small amount? Or is it divided according to the degree of love for pears, eating big pears that like to eat pears, and not needing to divide pears if you don't like to eat pears?
You can also take your children to think about whether in the face of family affection and friendship, do you need to distribute pears strictly according to the principle of equal division?
Fairness is an abstract concept. When children ask the question of "is this fair?" it means that they are observing known facts and reconstructing their understanding of the world around them, thus gradually forming their own views on fairness.