Was Hoping For Heart-Warming But Got Global Warming

(I am a fifth grade teacher. Recently, our school has been planning to make a time capsule that will be opened 50 years from now. My class was supposed to write letters to put in the capsule that started “50 years ago….” and then describe something they think will be obsolete in the future. Some of the responses are as follows.)

Student #1: “50 years ago there was this thing called competition. Two people would compete to see who was better at something. The best person was the winner and got a prize. The worst was the loser and he felt really sad.”

Student #2: “50 years ago it got really cold and snowed a ton. Snow is a white powder that is cold and used to make things like sculptures, snowballs, and forts.”

Student #3: “50 years ago we talked to other people. People we talked to a lot were called friends and the person you talked to the most was your best friend.”

Student #4: “50 years ago we went outside. That’s a place where we could see the sky and plants. The sky is blue and plants are green and leafy.”

Student #5: “50 years ago we could breathe and didn’t get sick from pollution.”

(I couldn’t believe 10/11 year olds could be so cynical. I’m still trying to decide if I should tell their parents.)