They broke my glasses and hit me repeatedly on the back of the head.

I wasn’t going to write about this this morning, but I can’t get away from it, so I am going to get it off my chest.

It caught us all off guard. Normally in his quirky, awkward, goofy-smiled way, he shares something silly, so when he began with “Frown, I got attacked last night…” we missed the initial gravity of his admission. One of his peers even misheard, thinking he had said, “I got a tat (tattoo) last night.” But then the mood changed and the gravity of what he was sharing pressed us into our chairs as looks of dismay shaped our faces upon hearing his horror.

They followed him after they got off the bus, calling his name. That was the first red flag, he shared. “They never talk to me.” Then they called out, asking to him to wait up, that they wanted to talk to him, “That was the second red flag.” And then the hitting started, knocking him to the snowy ground, pounding him on the back of the head, breaking his glasses. (Sorry for the graphic detail, but I wanted to try and relate how we felt upon hearing this deeply troubling tale).  

In disbelief, we sat in shocked silence. But then something happened. Empathy emerged. Questions came. Comments lifted. We were not okay with this. And we wanted him to know. Peers poured out their support. And for that moment, I believe he felt less-broken. I am not suggesting that his peers are all now his fast friends. No, to be sure, my second period is about as cliquey as it gets, but even so, we all experienced a moment of humanity yesterday morning. And even though the world is skewed in his eyes with both a broken spirit and glasses to match, he saw his peers yesterday and they saw him. 

The “two” will get into trouble. There will be consequences for their actions. But, there may be more important consequences than their trouble. The consequence of human connection. We weren’t jocks, preps, emos, gamers, wallflowers, or smokers yesterday. We were humans connected in a moment which, though brought to bear the ugly, ended in the beauty. The beauty of connection. And those in the room won’t soon forget. We can mend the broken. 

This is why I do Smiles and Frowns. I do it for him. I do it for them. I do it for all of us. All of us.

Today’s Trail

Along today’s trail we will experience…

…connecting through Smiles and Frowns.

…making our way to the finish line with our Truth Projects.

…reflecting in our Journey Journals.

…hearing a Sappy Sy Rhyme.

Happy Thursday, all. Sorry for the hard post this morning. 

Do. Reflect. Do Better.