Even The Roughest & Toughest Kids Can Have A Heart Of Gold
It’s always fascinating to me when the meanest, roughest, toughest and/or worst behaved kid seems to make a 180 turnaround, out of the blue. It’s much like the same feeling when you realize your great friend used to be your worst enemy. It’s those situations that make us pause for a moment and think “Huh, how did that happen? When did that happen? Why did that happen?”
Fifth-grader Dylan Etchieson is a fantastic example of a troubled kid who made a complete turn around when he took the initiative to help his classmate and best buddy Ryle, last Christmas.
Dylan and Ryle are an unlikely pair of friends who both attended a special school for kids who had behavior problems that made learning in a typical class setting very difficult.
Just prior to last Christmas, Ryle’s dad (the bread winner) suffered a stroke, causing a major financial strain for the family. Since the family couldn’t afford anything, Dylan decided to step in and secretly plot a plan with classmates and others. Through his efforts, he was able to provide a wonderful Christmas for this family. Dylan finally saw the opportunity to step outside of himself and help other, which seemed to make a change in his entire personality.
The boy’s teacher reportedly said “It’s like Dylan finally got empathy. You can tell he’s grown up and looks at the world a little differently now. There’s no more temper tantrums. Something definitely changed inside of Dylan.”
The original article can be found at:
http://www.contracostatimes.com/news/ci_8601106?nclick_check=1
Join us again in tomorrow’s photo Christmas cards blog.
Relevant Tags:behavior problems, photo christmas cards, troubled kid, wonderful Christmas
