Back to School
I remember going back to school each year. The nervousness that my first day outfit wouldn’t be cool enough (it never was) or that I wouldn’t have any friends in my classes (sometimes I did, sometimes I didn’t). Whatever year it was, it was usually THE biggest thing going on in my life at that moment. That first few days sets the mood and can make or break your spirit. While children can be the kindest and most open of souls they also have the uncanny ability to pick up traits in an instant or learn the “adult way” far too early. The rejection that can penetrate through your entire being when someone acts like a seat is already taken or they choose to talk to the person on their other side and completely ignore you. Is it because of that outfit you chose? Your hairstyle? Smell? Simply because you are not popular?
As I sit here I pray fervently for those kids that feel that this week is the biggest in their lives so far. Those kids that might feel they have already been or are on the verge of being rejected. I pray that as a parent and an elder (in a respect sense, not that I am old and wise- yet), I encourage kids to be open and not be dismissive or sectarian. Last year in the neighboring school system a young boy of eleven, Jaheem Herrera, took his own life because of taunts and bullying at school. As an eleven year old he already felt so hopeless and dejected that he hung himself after getting home from school.
Please remind your kids (or any young one that you may have influence over) to smile at everyone, say hello to the new kid, and be open to the uncool kids that their friends might be ignoring. In the life of a child one person CAN make a difference. ONE person can show the love of Christ and change a day or a lifetime. Our words and our influence is real. Perhaps Jaheem would not have felt so lost.
I may not be a teacher anymore but I’ve seen the faces, and I remember well my own. Many of us as adults still struggle with the fears and rejections we had as children. I was never in the “right” socioeconomic class, so in turn that led to me not having the right things. Thankfully, I was in a place where some kids didn’t care about those things. But what if I wasn’t? Where would I be, or what I be dealing with, today? Let’s be proactive and not reactive in the lives of not only our own children but those around us. Pray, be an influencer. And remember that everyone is whole and loved by a great God.
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