Camp Lessons
Lakewood summer camp was a two-week program ran from Lakewood Elementary School that taught participants arts and crafts, music, and other fun hobbies. It was open to anyone in Elwood City, and many of Lakewood's regular students were allowed to participate by their parents. Among them were Arthur, Muffy, Francine, and George.
On the first day, the group met in Lakewood's cafeteria to be divided into groups. Somehow the Lakewood students ended up together in the Blue Group, along with an older kid named Sam and a handful of others. The students immediately noticed Sam was older because of how much bigger he was height-wise. But when he spoke for the first time during an introduction game, the kids found themselves laughing uncontrollably. He sounded very funny to them.
But Sam found their laughter hurtful and darted from the room. The teacher, a fifth grade math teacher the third graders didn't know, glared at them. After a moment, she left the room to find Sam.
"Come on, guys, that was just mean!" George hissed at his peers.
"You're not fooling anyone, George!" Francine scoffed. "I saw you smirk when he started talking."
"No I wasn't. I know Sam through my friend Carl-"
"Silence!" Principal Haney bellowed. The students shrank in their seats as he entered the room. "I can't believe this! And you four are my own students! How could you all be so unforgivably rude?"
The students remained silent as the teacher led Sam back into the room. He had been crying but the adults were able to help him stop. In fact, their harsh tone had some of the others nearer to tears due to the sick feeling in their stomachs.
"Sam is a special boy, and we allowed him here as an example," the teacher murmured. "Sam was born without much oxygen, which we need to live. His umbilical cord was wrapped around his neck so tightly they could barely get it off. When he started to cry, they knew this had caused problems. They thought his brain was affected, but Sam is a very smart boy. His voice just happens to be a little different, and his self-esteem is affected but of reactions like the one you all just gave him. We thought you all could help him with that. You still can, of course, but you have a lot of ground to make up."
"There is still time," Principal Haney said, looking over the group. "I want written apologies from each of you. While you write, Sam will help me with a project. Come along, Sam. Your peers have some thinking to do."
Paper was passed around the room, and the students wrote heart-felt apologies, except for George. He wrote about his favorite moment with Carl, when Sam helped him find the glue for their project then helped them complete it. Everyone wanted Sam to feel better, but they knew reading their apologies to him wouldn't be enough.
So they showed him they cared. Sam understood, and while they attended the camp together, he was put into groups with each of them. He made several friends, and all of them learned a valuable lesson about how to treat those who are very unlike themselves.
~End
Theme 036: Tolerance
I completed this one-shot in response to a one-shot theme list I'm doing with TheUltimateCombo and others. For more information, see our profiles. If you'd like to participate, PM TheUltimateCombo.