Friday, February 7, 2003

This week, the theme at work was… telling the truth. That’s what I wanted to instill in children. Some children denied things at first, but after giving them a short talk, they came clean. I meant to give children the feeling that although they had done something wrong, they’d only make it worse by keeping up the lies. In addition, I wanted them to feel that I might not even be mad once they told me the truth, regardless of what they had done. One case is still fresh…

I was on my way home, thinking that a 4th grader had lied to me about not having taken a Yugio card from a second grader. On my way to the car, two friends of his told me he had it in his hat, so I crossed the street and returned to the school. Omar was there. I told him, “I know you have the Yugio card, and although I’m in a hurry to go home, I’m willing to stay after work but it sure is going to cost you. You could hand me the Yugio card now, and receive a punishment, or continue to keep it from me, and make the punishment double, maybe even triple.”

He had teary eyes when he finally handed me it. As I held it, I said to him, “you know that what you did is wrong, and you’ll be punished for it. We both know you deserve it. Thank you for being honest with me.” And just as I had finished talking to him, Hristo’s mom’s car was about to pass by us. I stepped on the edge of the curb and asked her to stop the car. I handed the card back to Hristo and asked him not to bring the cards anymore, that he had witnessed for himself the problems they cause.

Hristo still was drying up his tears when I handed him his card… I’m sure he had learned his lesson… not to break the rules by bringing Yugio cards to school. Now Omar… I’ll have a talk with him on Monday to remind him that it’s wrong to steal and lie, and that there’s no need to do either. After the talk I’ll let him go, but I’ll also warn him that the next time I hear of him stealing, I’ll not be letient… and if he lies to cover it up, oh boy… (hehe)

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