Every September, schools open their doors full of voices, smiles and dreams. For every child, the school year is a new beginning. However, not all children are the same. There are children who enter the classroom in a wheelchair, with special needs, with a lifestyle that differs from the “usual”. Those children have the same soul, the same smile, the same thirst for learning and love. And yet, they are often faced with the harshest reality: the stare, the mockery, the rejection.
Our world does not become better when we hurt our neighbor. It does not become more beautiful when we “bully” someone who cannot defend himself. Our world only grows when we show respect, when we open our arms, when we share. All children are of the same God. There are no “different” children. There are only children who need a little more understanding, a little more support, a little more love.
No school will ever teach you that the most important lesson in life is kindness. No book will tell you that the words "sorry" and "thank you" are worth more than any A. And no teacher will give you a grade on how you shared your lunch with the classmate who didn't have one. These are the lessons of the heart, the ones that make us real people.
And let's not forget: words hurt more than a blow. A word can scar a child forever, leaving wounds that are not visible. We, the adults, have a responsibility to teach our children to speak kindly, to respect their classmates, to embrace diversity.
Because the world will not change with big words and laws. The world will change with those little hands that will hold the hand of a child in a wheelchair and say: "Come on, let's go together."
photo by WOKANDAPIX, https://pixabay.com
