Students Need Wisdom

"Wisdom will save you from the ways of wicked men, from men whose words are perverse,who have left the straight paths to walk in dark ways, who delight in doing wrong and rejoice in the perverseness of evil, whose paths are crooked and who are devious in their ways." (Proverbs 2:12-15 NIV)

All too often, high performing kids in school will be led astray by other kids who are merely attending. Why? A momentary lapse of wisdom, ignited by a temporary need to fit in with others, can and will cause irreparable damage to a person's reputation--especially when they were once viewed with great esteem.

Getting a little personal--as it pertains to my grandson--I hope to steer parents to paying attention to their kids. On Monday, my grandson was asked, "When you gonna do your 30?" The question was asked by table-mates at lunch, just before the start of his next class. Instead of going directly to class, he and others went into the boys' locker room to do "30 seconds" of fighting--a direct violation of school policy. Both boys were suspended for 10 days.

When I was called to pick him up and he told me what happened, I was floored. My grandson had never been involved in a physical altercation and when I saw the disappointed looks on the faces of his counselor, the assistant principal, and the principal, I knew they were just as surprised as I was. A parent of another student--not involved--contacted me because they said, "he is our mild-mannered, most respectful honor student."

Before we could get home, a six-minute ride, he was disappointed with himself and said so. He realized that he had messed up majorly. I was so quiet he asked me if I was angry and I responded that I was more disappointed than angry because of the disciplinary action permanence on his transcript. He didn't realize the impact of his 30 second action. He does now. I had to sleep on a punishment because it needed to steer him into thinking before acting and in not allowing other people to mislead him.

He's written an essay about the dangers of not paying attention to "time" and the fact that a person cannot get it back. He's missing out on learning, playing in the school band, being with his "real friends" and he knows the absence could result in losing his class ranking, which up to now--was #3 with a 4.154 g.p.a.

We've had all "the talks" before, but he forgot what he was taught and now, he's learned a very valuable lesson about redeeming time. 30 seconds was not worth what he's lost, including privileges at home and an increase in responsibility with household chores--during his 10 day hiatus, which is certainly not a vacation.

We really have to know "the language" of kids to help them avoid the snares and pits the enemy plans for them.