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Last month my 101-year-old grandma died. She had some incredible collections: jewelry, travel charms, stamps, photos. One stamp in her collection said, ‘Family Planning.’ On it was an image of a mom, a dad, and two children; one boy and one girl. This stamp was issued over 50 years ago and 153,025,000 copies were printed.
 
In theory, the message on the stamp makes ‘number sense’. If a husband and a wife replace themselves with two children - no more, no less - they will repopulate the earth at a completely predictable rate, allowing experts to better analyze other variables like food sources, etc.
 
One problem with the theory is that it was wrapped up in so much propaganda that the impact unfolded more rapidly than anyone expected and now we have a looming issue of underpopulation in place of overpopulation. Other problems include the morality of the government interfering in private family life.
 
A New York Times article from 1972* quotes Dr. Alan F. Guttmacher in warning that the “social ills” of a spiraling world population should be everyone’s concern and states that, “the Post Office has dignified the birth control movement by giving it its stamp of approval.”
 
The pamphlet created to unveil the stamp carried this quote: “No woman can call herself free who does not own and control her body. No woman can call herself free until she can choose consciously whether she will or will not be a mother.”
 
The messaging of the stamp and the people that surrounded its unveiling stand in stark contrast to the unbound generosity of women presented by Saint John Paul II in his 1995 Letter to Women, in which he claims the dignity and worth of mothers and all women regardless of the number of children they have and whether they work inside or outside of the home. He reminds us of what St. Thomas Aquinas taught: that authentic freedom is found in selflessness and in being a gift to others. And if we worry that too much is resting on the shoulders of women, don’t forget that JPII also left us with this gem: “The dignity of every woman is the responsibility of every man.”
 
A number of different math projects could be completed around the concept of global population. As a bonus these lessons can be tied into history, geography, and economics as well. Teachers can ask these questions: “Why does population matter? What would happen to the world if every family had 3+ children, 2 children, 1 child, 0 children? How do mean, median, and mode help us understand the data from these computations in different ways? When we look at numbers, for example population numbers, why is it important to tell a story with the numbers and not look at them as isolated symbols? Numbers, like letters, represent a bigger picture. The number story of the population of our world should be told in tandem with the word story of our world. Symbols alone are just that, marks on a page that may hold quantitative information, but lack context and deeper meaning. The number of people in a family, community, country, etc. is but one sliver of a greater story.
 
Combined with the story of humanity, the numbers that represent quantitative data about our world tell a complex and compelling saga; one that invites us to lean in, learn more, and ask great questions. Math can be great fun when told as a story!
 
* Goodman, George Jr. “Family Planning Stamp is Shown Here.” New York Times. March 18, 1972, p. 33.