01/17/2025
A TOUCHING STORY ABOUT HOW OFTEN WE RUSH TO JUDGE SOMEONE WITHOUT KNOWING ANYTHING ABOUT THEM...
At the beginning of the school year, sixth-grade homeroom teacher, Mrs. McCarthy, stood before her former fifth-grade students. She looked at her children and said that she loved them all equally and was glad to see them.
This wasn’t true because there was one boy, Harvey, hunched over at one of the front desks, who Mrs. McCarthy disliked.
She had met him just like all her other students the previous school year. Even then, she noticed that he didn’t play with his classmates, wore dirty clothes, and smelled as if he had never bathed.
Over time, Mrs. McCarthy’s attitude toward Harvey worsened, to the point where she wanted to mark all his written work with red ink and give him failing grades.
One day, the school principal asked her to review all the students’ records, and she placed Harvey’s file at the very end. When she finally got to it and reluctantly started examining his records from each school year, she was stunned.
The first-grade teacher wrote, "This is a wonderful child with a bright smile. He does his homework neatly and accurately. It’s a pleasure to be around him."
In the second grade, it said, "He is an excellent student, well-liked by his peers, but he has family problems: his mother is terminally ill, and his home life is likely a constant struggle with her illness."
The third-grade teacher noted, "His mother’s death has been very hard on him. He is trying to adapt, but his father shows no interest in him, and if nothing is done, his home life will soon start affecting his schoolwork."
In the fourth grade, the teacher wrote, "Harvey shows no interest in school, has few friends, and often falls asleep in class."
After reading these records, Mrs. McCarthy felt deeply ashamed. She felt even worse when, at Christmas, several students brought her gifts wrapped in shiny paper with bows. Harvey’s gift was wrapped in rough brown paper. When she opened the package, the children started laughing, and she was stunned because she found ⬇️