Over the weekend, Good Morning America reported a story about a mom who took her son out of school to attend a playoff game for the Red Sox. She wrote a creative note to her son’s teacher that said, “Please allow Brian to be dismissed at 11:45 a.m. He has Red Sox fever and needs to visit Fenway Park for the cure.”
The news program indicated that this mom’s decision incited envy and anger among those who heard about it (the teacher, by the way, thought it was hilarious).
The news team reported the story and then started to have a discussion about this mom. Was she right to have taken her son out of school just to go to a sports game?
After they discussed this they added that this boy wears Red Sox clothes nearly every day to school, AND he was only going to miss out on chess and study hall!
My friend Brenda responded to the story by saying, “Isn’t that just like us? We have a big ole discussion about our opinion of another person and then we hear the rest of the story, and it changes how we would have looked at the story.”
What difference does it make whether you or I agree with this mom or not? She did what she determined was best for her son. I applaud her for that.
Judgment runs rampant in our culture. I believe the news media has influenced that by moving from reporting the facts to gathering opinions. We’ve followed right along by expressing our opinions about others so freely.
When our kids are bickering, complaining, or criticizing others we tell them to KNOCK IT OFF! I believe it’s time to apply that to ourselves.
I’ve signed the Knock It Off pledge. Have you?
