With a show of hands

Picture these seats filled with high-school students, all of them with their hands raised. The question they answered with a show of hands… “How many of you know someone with cancer?” Picture these seats filled with high-school students, half of whom have their hands raised. The question they answered… “How many of you know someone your age with cancer?”

Scary picture?  Damn right!

I had asked those questions of 90 students in Sandpoint, Idaho last year. I hadn’t expected that response. Only it gets worse…

I asked the same questions of diabetes, obesity… And everytime, all the hands raised for knowing someone, and then half the hands stayed up for knowing someone their age with the disease.

If someone had asked me these questions at that age, I wouldn’t have raised my hand once.

These students were ready to learn more about Pottenger’s Cats. They could see that they were third generation of Groups 2 and 3 from the experiments – slotted for chronic disease and other maladies.  They wanted to know what they could do to help their families. They didn’t want to pass it on to their children.

I didn’t have to spout statistics about the meteoric rise of disease.

They already knew firsthand.