Nobody should be left out

Good day,

I am attaching an essay that was written by Stephen Pond, a 5th grader in Conception Bay South, in Newfoundland, Canada. I had the opportunity to meet Stephen and his parents and I enclose his essay here as an example of the thoughts of a member of tomorrow's leadership community. This essay was written as part of his class Language Arts Program and was written by Stephen in class with no help from his parents.

When I spoke to Stephen's mom to get permission to share his essay, she shared another story with me that demonstrates his candidacy as a leader of tomorrow. Last year during his school's annual sports day, there was a student there with Down's Syndrome who was publically announcing his intention of winning a gold medal in an event. Given the number of strong athletes in the event, this child's ability to manifest a gold medal seemed slim at the time.

Stephen won a gold medal in one of the events and without prompting, proceeded to find the child with Down's Syndrome and put the gold medal on him, congratulating him on having won his gold medal.

Someone who recognizes the character of others and rewards them with intent to build up their spirits for future success is a leader in my book.

His essay verbatim follows.

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Title: Nobody Should Be Left Out

Hello, my name is Stephen Pond and my topic is "Nobody Should Be Left Out". Have you ever been left out? Did you enjoy it? I will be discussing such topics as:

• We are all the same
• Everyone has emotions
• Don't judge people before you get to know them
• People today are too self-absorbed and death is caused because people are left out

My first reason is that we're all the same. Even though we may look different doesn't mean we're not all the same and we should realize that. Mostly bullies would do these things but now I notice that all people are making fun of others because they have big ears or wear glasses. They also make fun of what kids wear like if they wear tight jeans or tuck in their shirt. I think this should stop and we should treat people equally.

My second reason is that everyone has emotions and lots of times the kids who have been left out has sorrowful emotions. For example, if a group of people are playing street hockey and they don't let you because they say there are too many people but they take turns and they still don't let you play. I think that is very selfish and instead of letting someone play they don't which makes them sad and won't enjoy their lives.

My third reason is that you should not judge someone before you even get to know them. This is a big reason why kids are left out. For example, a new kid comes to school and a group of kids look at him and they say "oh he wears glasses" and then they don't let him join in for sports or group activities. Imagine how that kid felt his first day of school and no one even talked to him.

My fourth reason is that people are too self-absorbed like instead of letting someone use your toy, you hog it yourself. Another example is instead of letting someone play with you and take turns, you just play without them. That is what being self-absorbed is - when you don't care about anyone else and think you're the most important. But that person who has been left out could be really nice and you could have become real good friends with him or her.

My last reason is that death is caused because people are left out. People become so infuriated with themselves that when they're left out, they feel that they're not as good as us and they think there's no point to life and eventually they get so fed up with life that they hang themselves. Every year, hundreds of kids die because they are left out.

All over the world, kids are being left out and something should be done. Some ways to keep people from being left out are:

• If someone is being left out of a game, tell them they could play with you
• If you're being made fun of, tell the people who are making of you to stop
• If they don't, tell a teacher or a trusted adult and they will deal with it
• Put yourself in their shoes, imagine how they feel.

We should all pitch in and make sure no one is left out. That is my Persuasive Essay. Thank you for your time and I hope you enjoy it.

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From the mind of a 10 year old to those of us who have experienced considerably more. There are lessons here even for those of us for whom the age of 10 is a very distant memory.

Take care and create a great day!

Harry