We hear a lot about kids these days being trouble-makers and how rude they can be and about the hurtful things that they do to each other. Well, finally there was a front page news story about the opposite.
Last month at Cibola High School, the kids got it right. James Keefner was elected homecoming king. He's a favorite among the students--popular, good friends with the quarterback of the football team, hangs out with the girls on the volleyball team, enjoys weight-lifting class, and is friends with just about everyone in the school. Sounds like any other homecoming king in America, right?
Except that James has down syndrome. But to the kids at Cibola, he's just one of their classmates and one of their friends. They look beyond what society has deemed a disability to the person. One student said that there was absolutely no question as to who would be homecoming king at Cibola, because everyone loves James.
These teenagers put aside judgment and prejudice and selfishness. They looked beyond stereotypes and what judgments society imposes on people. They looked not at the outside, but at the inside of James. This kind of thing doesn't happen to often in high schools, or in the world. Maybe if we would all look at a person's heart and spirit and personality first, and let everything else be only secondary, the world would be a better place.
The world would do well to take a lesson from the kids at Cibola High School.
Except that James has down syndrome. But to the kids at Cibola, he's just one of their classmates and one of their friends. They look beyond what society has deemed a disability to the person. One student said that there was absolutely no question as to who would be homecoming king at Cibola, because everyone loves James.
These teenagers put aside judgment and prejudice and selfishness. They looked beyond stereotypes and what judgments society imposes on people. They looked not at the outside, but at the inside of James. This kind of thing doesn't happen to often in high schools, or in the world. Maybe if we would all look at a person's heart and spirit and personality first, and let everything else be only secondary, the world would be a better place.
The world would do well to take a lesson from the kids at Cibola High School.
2 comments:
This warmed my heart and made me a little teary. Good story.
Thanks, Laura! I loved the article when I saw it in the newspaper, so I knew I had to do a blog about it!
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