Every once in a while we’ll see a story about a sports
team that goes the distance in support of a disabled student. One famous and
viral story is about a high school basketball team whose autistic equipment
manager suited up for the final game of the season and scored 18 points. It has
had over 5 million views on YouTube. Today’s story has a slightly different
twist. Watch this brief video to the end and you will not believe your eyes.
I don’t know about you, but I never get tired of stories
like this. These acts of sportsmanship and human decency demonstrate a couple
of important truths about our society.
a. Students
with developmental disabilities deserve respect. They just want to fit in and
live a happy life. They don't expect sympathy but it sure is nice if they can catch a break once in a while.
b. Values
are instilled in young people from a very early age. They learn from the examples
set by parents, siblings and others in society (like coaches). They can learn
to be selfish, disrespectful and intolerant or they turn out to be supportive, kind and
selfless like the teammates in this story and especially the opposing player
who, in my opinion, is the true star.
Seeing young people publicly demonstrate their values has to give us hope for the future. I'll be happy when scenes like this occur regularly in every town in America.
