Despite all of that, I witnessed a terrible tragedy the other afternoon. While we were in the gym, I observed each group of students carefully. There were the future volleyball stars playing in the middle of the gym. There were the future basketball stars playing a game of knockout. Two young boys and two young girls were learning how to flirt at one end of the gym, and the little troublemaker boys were climbing on a pile of equipment at the other end. However, it was the little boy sitting alone at the end of the gym that really caught my eye and broke my heart.
I sat down beside him, and asked him what was wrong. He was slow to answer. Instead, we began talking about super heroes, his favorite being Guardians of the Galaxy. Slowly, he began to let me in. He told me the story of his friend calling him a terrible name. That friend and that little word had ruined his whole day. He was heartbroken. As I watched the other students and looked at my little friend next to me, I couldn't help but think that somewhere, somehow we have made a grave mistake.
Our students, our young people, our future have the capability to learn everything their minds can hold. Every year, we produce new books, new tests, and new material to teach them. All the time, we have a new study technique or a new teaching method to maximize performance. We drill science, math, and history into our students' minds, but somehow we've forgotten to teach them how to be kind. We've forgotten to teach them how to be human.
In this day and age, bullying is a hot topic. We want to stop all bullying everywhere. While I agree with the end goal, I disagree with the means. Stopping bullying is reactive. We are behind the curve. We must learn to teach our students to be kind, to love their fellow man. Not for the color of his skin, not for what he can do for you, love him simply for the reason that no person in this world should ever feel alone.I have the chance to try and make that change every single day at work, but the change won't happen there. The change will happen with how you and I decide to treat people every single day. A child isn't born with hate in his heart. It is a learned habit from the people that he observes. Nelson Mandela once said, "People must learn to hate, and if they can learn to hate, they can be taught to love, for love comes more naturally to the human heart than its opposite." We live in a hateful society. Religious persecution happens everyday in every corner of the world. Racial discrimination still exists in every town in America, and domestic violence is present in epidemic proportions. If that is the legacy we are leaving for them to learn from, how can we expect them to behave any differently?
The type of change I am calling for will not happen easily. It will not happen by starting a campaign. It will not happen by electing new people to office, and it will not happen on prayer alone. We change this world with how we choose to treat every single person that we come into contact with. A smile, a helping hand, an ear to listen, and a should to cry on- that is how we make the difference. How we treat the people that can do nothing for us. How we treat the people that have nothing to give. How we treat our parents, our friends, our coworkers, our teachers, our brothers and sisters. That is where the change lies. We must learn to show some compassion, some mercy, some forgiveness, and some kindness. Jackie DeShannon said it best when she said, "What the world needs now is love."
The choice is up to you- continue to hate or help the world learn to love.
Stay happy, my friends.
