There once was a young boy who had within him the rumble-tumbleness of a honey badger. He was headstrong. He was willful. One morning he decided to go fishing. He gathered up his pole, his bait, and his tackle-box and headed for the pier.
Upon arriving at the pier the young boy baited his hook, and cast his line. He felt the tug of the current, but not so much as a nibble from a single fish. He reeled in, and recast. Over and over he cast his line into the deep blue sea, but to no avail...his hook remained baited, but fishless.
After a time, the young boy lost patience; as rumble-tumble boys are prone to do. He decided to cast one more line. He double baited his hook then thrust his pole forward with all of his might! The hook, with its double weight, traveled a great distance over the deep, finally splashing and sinking slowly down into the brine. After a few moments the young boy began reeling in, when he felt something tug at his line. He froze in anticipation! Another tug, far greater than the first. Then a second! The third tug nearly pulled him from the pier! It was all the young boy could do to hold onto his pole!
His excitement swelled, for he knew that he had hooked something big! Holding fast to his pole, muscles straining, he looked out across the sea and saw what his hook had captured. Rising from the deep breached a leviathan! The whale thrashed and fluked...slapping the surface of the sea with such force it shook the pier beneath the boys feet!
The boy's excitement was replaced with fear! He knew that if he kept hold of his pole he would be pulled out to sea to his death. He also knew that if he let go, his catch would swim away, and without proof no one would ever believe his fish story. Perplexed, the young boy held strong!
Suddenly, a stranger appeared. The young boy pleaded with the stranger for help! Without a word the stranger took out a knife and cut the line.
I think of this story often. The message of it defines what I strive to do in my classroom.
As educators we have to know when to cut the string! There are times (Everyday) when I have to make a decision that has nothing to do with me, yet everything to do with my kids.
No matter the age, all kids will find themselves at a crossroads at some point and for some...making the right decision is a seemingly impossible task. Never miss an opportunity to step in, to interfere, to impose, to question, or to act if one of your kids is about to be pulled out to sea!
Most kids who seem to always make bad choices always have an inner-agenda, much like the young boy in the story above. These kids (Secretly) do not want to be hurt, or seen as a punk. So, step in...help him or her make a choice that never occurred to them.
