“Good students shall not befriend poor students. He who lies down with dogs shall rise up with fleas. ”
The phrase had been a class slogan when I was in primary school. Without a clear understanding of what “good” truly means, we as 10-year-old young children compliantly engraved this phrase into our souls. The class teacher with her inviolable dignity established a class hierarchy based on students’ grades. I, considered to have excellent academics, accepted this prestigious status with great honor. On the contrary, there was one boy who defined the bottom hierarchy of our class. His innate poor intelligence was dismayed by teachers and classmates, for his intellectual disability made good grades an unachievable dream. The most ludicrous story that happened to him never left my memories. It was a “normal” school day when a group of violent boys began to bully the powerless kid. He was dragged to the floor before our class teacher, with the perpetrators encircling him and grabbing his collar. The teacher quickly stopped the violence, but to my surprise, she accused the boy of being the cause. “If you can be smarter in my class, why would others even look down upon you? ” The violence was over, not the boy’s tears.
At that moment, there rose an urgent desire from the deepest in my heart to wipe away his sorrow. This was the first time I felt rebellious against what my teacher had done. The boy’s endless grievance resonated with my beating heart, which almost pushed me forward to speak out loud. However, I hesitated. A 10-year-old girl felt overwhelmingly helpless under the authority of her mighty teacher. Do not stand up. I am a good student who never goes against her teacher. A good student never befriends poor students. I spent the rest of the class in such a dilemma, watching him sobbing with pain deep inside, but remaining in the seat with no courage to speak.
When I was leaving school later in the day, I found the boy standing beside a garden and looking at the flowers. My intolerable responsibility eventually broke out as there were no adults watching. This is the only chance I can do something, even very small, to reduce his suffering and to make up for my cowardice. I joined him to appreciate the beauty of flowers. He replied to me with an innocent smile. I could not understand the reason he smiled at me, but such pure innocence has conveyed the boy’s pursuit for hope in the world. What makes a student considered “good”? It’s not until recently that I began to develop my own perspectives on the issue. A kid who had long been discriminated against could still express his strongest wish without being hypocritical. He is therefore intellectual and “excellent”, because he has his own way of thinking about the world. I never met the boy again after graduating from primary school. However, if time reverses to allow me to remedy my mistakes, I will tell him his value to be respectable just as anyone else. I will apologize for not attempting to understand his true feelings, and promise to greet anyone I meet with deep respect. I want to hear his voice thoroughly, for I wish my understanding will reach the deepest part of his soul. I want to hear everybody’s voice thoroughly, for I wish mutual respect will illuminate the world with more happiness.
“
Good
students
shall not befriend poor
students
. He
who
lies down with dogs shall rise up with fleas. ”
The phrase had been a
class
slogan when I was in primary
school
. Without a
clear
understanding of what “
good
”
truly
means, we as 10-year-
old
young children
compliantly
engraved this phrase into our souls. The
class
teacher
with her inviolable dignity established a
class
hierarchy based on
students’
grades. I, considered to have excellent academics,
accepted
this prestigious status with great honor.
On the contrary
, there was one
boy
who
defined the bottom hierarchy of our
class
. His innate poor intelligence
was dismayed
by
teachers
and classmates, for his intellectual disability made
good
grades an unachievable dream. The most ludicrous story that happened to him never
left
my memories. It was a “normal”
school
day when a group of violent
boys
began to bully the powerless kid. He
was dragged
to the floor
before
our
class
teacher
, with the perpetrators encircling him and grabbing his collar. The
teacher
quickly
stopped
the violence,
but
to my surprise, she accused the
boy
of being the cause. “If you can be smarter in my
class
, why would others even look down upon you? ” The violence was over, not the
boy’s
tears.
At that moment, there rose an urgent desire from the deepest in my heart to wipe away his sorrow. This was the
first
time I felt rebellious against what my
teacher
had done. The
boy’s
endless grievance resonated with my beating heart, which almost pushed me forward to speak out loud.
However
, I hesitated. A 10-year-
old
girl felt
overwhelmingly
helpless under the authority of her mighty
teacher
. Do not stand up. I am a
good
student
who
never goes against her
teacher
. A
good
student
never befriends poor
students
. I spent the rest of the
class
in such a dilemma, watching him sobbing with pain deep inside,
but
remaining in the seat with no courage to speak.
When I was leaving
school
later in the day, I found the
boy
standing beside a garden and looking at the flowers. My intolerable responsibility
eventually
broke out as there were no adults watching. This is the
only
chance I can do something, even
very
small
, to
reduce
his suffering and to
make
up for my cowardice. I
joined
him to appreciate the beauty of flowers. He replied to me with an innocent smile. I could not understand the reason he smiled at me,
but
such pure innocence has conveyed the
boy’s
pursuit for hope in the world. What
makes
a
student
considered “
good
”? It’s not until recently that I began to develop my
own
perspectives on the issue. A kid
who
had long
been discriminated
against could
still
express his strongest wish without being hypocritical. He is
therefore
intellectual and “excellent”,
because
he has his
own
way of thinking about the world. I never met the
boy
again after graduating from primary
school
.
However
, if time reverses to
allow
me to remedy my mistakes, I will
tell
him his value to be respectable
just
as anyone else. I will apologize for not attempting to understand his true feelings, and promise to greet anyone I
meet
with deep respect. I want to hear his voice
thoroughly
, for I wish my understanding will reach the deepest part of his soul.
I
want to hear everybody’s voice
thoroughly
, for I wish mutual respect will illuminate the world with more happiness.