In fourth grade, a student named Maria moved to Batesville from Mexico. Maria was lovely and sweet. Some people, however, treated her badly simply out of jealousy.
When she first arrived, almost everyone appeared to want to know Maria better, with the exception of a few girls. They seemed not to like her because of her beauty and personality. Whenever Maria would sit down at lunch, these girls would cease their conversations and sit in silence, leaving Maria and I in conversations of our own.
Finally, I had taken enough of their stupidity. I marched over to the monkey bars and told the girls what I thought. That was that they were just making themselves look bad. The expressions on their faces went from triumphant to defeated.
A few days later, after out little chat, the girls attitudes toward Maria had made a complete turn-around. When walking through the halls, I could barely get a word in for all the girls standing around Maria. Maria gave me a very rewarding smile. That smile made my talk with the girls worth all the effort.
When I felt the need to take a stand, I did. Maybe that is one of the joys of being children. We speak what we feel and think, which can be a good thing and bad, but in this case good. I still always try to take a stand when I feel the need. I cannot ever tell if my effort will make an impact, but I might as well take a chance and find out.
Sunday, January 25, 2009
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