When I saw this video yesterday, I just had to share it. Two boys have an opportunity to hurt someone. One chooses instead to help him.
As Mr. Rogers, one of the greatest advocates ever for children, counseled us that we need to help children "see the helpers". This has brought memories to me of some teachers who were "helpers".
One was an older woman who was my fifth grade teacher in Athens, Georgia. Our family moved there in the middle of the school year so my dad could attend the Naval Supply School there. It was 1960, right before the schools were going to be integrated. I had lived in California and never been to "The South" before. I was shocked to see the squalor of the "shanty town" on the outskirts of Athens. I was even more shocked to see the submissive acceptance of their "inferior" position of the adult "colored" people (that was the polite term that "whites" called the "black" people at that time). I was also surprised that the children didn't seem to mind at all that "colored" children would be in their classes next year, but they matter-of-factly reported that their parents weren't very happy about "integration".
One day, shortly after I arrived, my teacher sent a girl to the office. I had noticed this girl. She stood out. She was larger than the rest of us, and I think a little older than us. The girl was big boned and "weather worn". Her clothes were clean, but not as nice as the other girls. I also noticed that the kids seemed to avoid her.
When the girl had left the classroom, my teacher began to quietly tell us about this girl. As I remember, she was being raised by relatives. The school required a $10 fee for supplies for the school year (equivalent to $88 today), but offered to wave the fee for this girl since they knew she didn't have the money. The girl refused the offer and instead worked picking cotton that summer to earn the money to pay for her own school expenses. I was stunned, and the whole class was very quiet.
I wish I could report that I became this girl's good friend, but I didn't. I was the quiet, shy, new kid who only talked to a couple of girls and had never even seen poverty before, but I have never forgotten the effort this teacher made to help this girl be accepted by the rest of the class. No one was ever unkind to her, because our teacher helped us see the girl as a real person. Our teacher's example of love and respect for this girl with little money made all the difference in how she was treated in the classroom.
I remember another teacher, a very well known author and highly esteemed college professor, who also made an extra effort to help a person in our class. This was in 1970 at Brigham Young University where there was a "code of honor" which forbid drug use. One day a young man began mumbling loudly and stumbling around at the back of the classroom. Our teacher authoritatively declared that he had been an FBI man. He could recognize a person who was on drugs, and he would "handle the situation".
The next day when I returned to class, we were met by a profusely apologetic professor. He explained that the young man, who he had thought was on drugs, was instead a diabetic sinking into a coma and desperately trying to get help. What impressed me was not that this prestigious professor misjudged another person, but that he put the young man's needs before his own. He was willing to restore the young man's reputation over maintaining his own infallible standing.
Though it has been many years, I have never forgotten these teachers. Their example made a difference in my life. I hope my example has, and will, make a difference in others' lives. We may be surprised at all who are watching us and be amazed at how some simple action on our part can make a huge difference in how other people are treated. Our words and actions really can change the world.
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