In an age when there is so much made of how kids are becoming detached and lack responsibility due – according to some – in part to spending too much time playing video games, it is sad to see news of where a teen student tried to make a difference and was shut down by the adults who are supposed to be serving his needs and those of all of our children.

As noted in this article, in Lawrence Massachusetts a 15 year old student named Thuan Tran went to his principal with an idea: to create a mural depicting Martin Luther King and Malcolm X. He even went so far as to have sketched his idea and gotten it approved. Then he set to work for two weeks realizing his ideas in the form of a large mural on the wall of his school.

But then things changed. The superintendent of schools (himself somewhat infamous for having failed the mandatory English proficiency test three times and simultaneously putting teachers who didn’t pass on unpaid leave) stepped in and had the mural painted over – without talking to the student, the principal, or anyone else involved. In fact, as the article says that Tran walked in just as the janitors were starting to paint over the art work.Note to the superintendent – we WANT our kids to seek out means for positive creative expression; we WANT students to celebrate history across racial boundaries; we WANT kids to seek permission before they do things that might impact others or that involves other people’s property. In other words, we want our kids to grow up with the foundations to be responsible adults.

Many adults are willing to write off much of the next generation as being over-indulged, having too little discipline and placing too much importance on niceties such as cell phones and video games. But here we learn a lesson, one that is particularly important in the face of an upcoming election – there are plenty of kids out there with the ability and desire to make a positive difference … and just as many power hungry authoritarian adults ready to stomp on anyone who interferes with their personal agenda.

Tags: Misc